Finale to the memory-foam/latex/wool bed search

A couple of days before I took off for Brazil again (for 2 1/2 weeks
for treatment for Lyme disease) I took possession of my
newest bed. This is the ongoing story of Goldilocks, who
has been searching for the one that is oh, just right. Well, it's sort
of a cross between Goldilocks and the Princess and the Pea.
As you may recall from previous bed entries in this blog, I decided to get
rid of my old and trusty Simmons Beautyrest mattress almost three or four years
ago because it had developed some significant valleys. That led to a series
of catastrophic purchases that were a) expensive, and b) extremely
difficult to get into and out of my hillside house. (A California King-size
bed up the 100 stairs from the street into the bedroom is no small feat.)
The ultimate insult added to injury was that each of these mattresses had
some kind of chemical smell to them which made them onerous to the
olfactory nerves, and probably not good for the body or nervous system.
This was ironic, considering that I am suffering from a neurological disease
-- neuroborrelliosis (typical of "late" Lyme disease).

But I am here to report that patience, in this case, is the better part of
valor. And also that the fourth time is the charm. True, I did have to eat
$1500 for the last mattress which was composed of natural latex foam (6
inches of it) topped with three inches of synthetic memory foam. When I
called the manufacturer of the latex portion of that mattress to complain
about the smell, the sales representative said "The retailers should
tell people that these mattresses are going to smell a bit like exactly
what they are -- rubber. He suggested that I spray it with Fabreeze, a
commercially available spray that masks smells. I said I thought that was a
bit ironic considering I was trying to deal with chemical sensitivities.
After eating the $1500 because the mattress merchant, Foam Creations on
Solano Ave in Albany, CA has a no-return policy, I next tried a mattress
from European Sleepworks. I chose this company largely because of their
catchy radio advertisements claiming that they build their mattresses from
"all natural materials" and they're very sensitive to the needs of
sleepers with chemical and physical peculiarities. So a roughly $2000
California King was delivered up the 100 stairs again. But woe and chagrin -
it too had the telltale latex smell, precisely because it has several
inches of natural latex resting atop the micro coil springs. Once
again, a very comfortable mattress which I hated to sacrifice. But
at least this time the sacrifice was minimized and as I merely paid the
return fee of $70 to the disgruntled movers who came and hauled it away, no
questions asked.

Incidentally, if you intend to try a European Sleepworks mattress, I highly
recommend you have a clearly articulated conversation with someone in a
position of authority there before making the purchase. They do have a
"comfort exchange" policy for 60 days, during which they will try to make
your sleeping experience a comfortable one. But if you want to make sure
that you can return the bed for a full refund, just make sure you have that
understanding in advance.

I was beginning to feel hopeless about ever finding anything I can sleep on
that was comfortable and that I didn't have any chemical sensitivity to. It
was beginning to look like I would be sleeping on a board. I was never one
as a child to have chemical sensitivities, but suddenly I could smell all
kinds of chemically things in sofas and pillows and mattresses. It seems as
though my ability to spell certain ingredients used in mattresses had been
amplified through these exposures. But I started reading about natural,
organic cotton and wool mattresses and began to stop into a store or two
that appeared to carry such niche items.

One such store is in San Francisco is called a Happy Planet, and another one
is in Berkeley, called Earthsake. These stores have very good salespeople who
rave about organic and natural beds. The prices were roughly
equivalent between these two stores for California-King-sized natural wool
and cotton batting with an inner-spring-style foundation. As the crowning glory, both
stores wanted to sell me three or four inches of good, fluffy wool in a
topper. However, Earthsake was having an anniversary celebration, and they
knocked something like 10% off of the price if I were to purchase on the
actual party day. So that clinched the deal for me. I bought the Cloud:
http://www.earthsake.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/cloudmattress.html ($1850)
with the 3" PureGrow Wool Filled Organic Cotton Mattress Pillowtop ($715).
I was a bit out on a limb at this point, though, because they do not take
returns, only exchanges. Also, the Earthsake delivery fee significantly
exceeded the $70 European Sleepworks charges. But I was getting
desperate. After three or four years of funky sleep, the mind does
strange things and is willing to take extreme measures. So, I was willing to
pay $270 on top of the $2000 for the mattress and topper. I crossed my fingers
and toes.

I am more than overjoyed to the report that the six-week wait I had to
endure with no mattress to speak of (other than a piece of old foam) was
well worth it. I love this Earthsake mattress. Of course, as I have
learned, nothing is without smell. So, even a natural, organic wool
mattress has a bit of a telltale odor which the manufacturer claims is the
smell of lanolin. But it is hardly objectionable, and hardly noticeable.
The wool topper is a must. Without it, the extra-firm mattress would most
certainly be uncomfortable and cause pressure points. With the topper, the
combination is cloud like. It is definitely different than a memory-foam
mattress, which I find to be probably the most comfortable mattress
available (I do not sleep hot on them, although many people do). But
considering the potential off-gassing hazard and the likelihood of smell,
and since we spend easily 1/3 our lives in our bed, I highly recommend your
checking out what I have had to learn the hard way. The take-home message
is as follows:

a) Purchase only a non-petroleum-based mattress and make sure that fire
retardants are not used. A mattress wrapped in wool does not require a fire
retardant, because wool is naturally fire retardant.

b) Buy as locally as possible, with an agreement that you can return the
mattress for at least a comfort exchange and preferably for a full refund if
you're not happy with it. The seller should give you ample time to
test-drive the mattress (European Sleepworks gives 60 days, for example,
which I think is generous). Shipping a mattress across the country is very
expensive and you don't want to have to do it twice. Make sure you know
what the delivery charges are, even from a local retailer. As my story
shows, the price can differ by as much as $200 each direction even between
two local retailers in the same city.

c) Objectionable odor should be a substantial enough reason for return of a
mattress. Some standard comfort exchanges do not cover odor. Odor is even
more subjective than firmness. For people who have chemical sensitivities,
proprietors may feel that their customer is even having a psychosomatic
reaction. However, this should be irrelevant. Keep in mind that smaller
retailers cannot afford to take mattresses back, because returns have to be
destroyed or given to a charity once they're slept on. Larger retailers can
handle the costs incurred with returns because they make up the difference
in volume.

d) Read up on the Internet regarding the brand and model you are interested
in. There is plenty of information about nontoxic bedding.

e) Go to the store that has the mattress you are interested in. Make sure it is the exact
mattress. Go more than once. Visit the mattress at least twice, possibly
three times on three different days. Expect to spend at least 30 minutes
each time lying on the bed in different positions, on your side, on your
back, and even sitting on the side of the bed to see how it feels to stand
up from lying prone. Can you turn over easily and shift your position on
the bed? Go with your gut feeling about a bed, in the end. Your head might
tell you one thing about it such as it might last longer, or you like a firm
bed and this one is really firm, or you like a soft bed and this one is
really soft, etc. But just go with your gut feeling. Does it feel good to
get into this bed, do you feel supported and happy?

Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatments Commence

This is the hyperbaric oxygen chamber that pumps pure O2 into me at twice normal atmospheric pressure for an hour a day. It's for treating my Lyme disease and Parkinson's. I am noticing interesting things. Emotions are waking up. Positive ones. Feelings I had forgotten existed. Don't know if it's the dopamine agonist (Parkinson's med) or chamber, but it's pleasant, so I don't really care!

The staff who run the place are Lyme literate, and very helpful. http://www.sfhbo.com/

"The San Francisco Institute for Hyperbaric Medicine is a state-of-the-art healthcare treatment facility located in the South Beach area of San Francisco. We operate with the dual missions of providing hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) treatments to private patients, as well as advancing the field of HBOT through clinical research. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is the use of intermittent, high-dose, oxygen as a drug. By giving pure oxygen in a pressurized chamber, HBOT delivers a massive influx of oxygen -- even to areas of poor blood flow -- and results in remarkable benefits that cannot be achieved with any other therapy."

Ipads sold

Follow my LymeTweets

My Lyme odyssey updates are being sent daily on Twitter, often as audio tweets. My Twitter ID is @bobcowart. 

Even better, you can link to my Twitter page:  http://twitter.com/bobcowart

There you can find me there and easily click the "follow" button.

Bob

Bob Cowart

Bob@cowart.com

510-540-6667

www.cowart.com

Flushing my PICC line

Check out this video on YouTube. It illustrates how one does a daily
flush of an antibiotic IV line used for Lyme disease treatment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aQx9RtYkfg&feature=youtube_gdata

Lyme Conference in San Ramon yesterday

Yesterday I went to a Lyme disease conference that was held in San
Ramon, California. There were a couple hundred people there probably
and some very good doctors spoke. For example, Dr. Christine Green,
Dr. Rafael Stricker, and Dr. David Martz. There was a fair amount of
discussion about the most recent bad news, which is that the IDSA has
announced its findings after a recent panel discussion and evidence
being presented by various doctors specifically from ILADS at a few
months ago. The first group stands for the Infectious Diseases Society
of America. The second acronym is for the International Lyme and
Associated Diseases Society.

(Pardon my capitalization and spelling, as I am dictating this into
the Dragon naturally speaking voice recognition application on my
iPhone, because it is difficult for me to type on a keyboard.)

There was great disappointment among all, because of the recent
findings of the IDSA, which essentially is that they found no need to
change their standards of care for the treatment of this horrible and
debilitating disease. This, despite significant evidence to the
contrary, evidence supporting effective treatment using long-term
antibiotics. I personally listened and watch the eight hours of
testimony given last summer at the IDSA meeting back east. Even my own
doctor, Rafael Stricker was one of the presenters. He had much
scientific evidence to present supporting the claim that long-term
antibiotic treatment is in fact needed, called for, and often
effective in the treatment of 'late Lyme disease.' However, due to
what I believe to be conflicts of interest between members of the IDSA
panel and the insurance companies involved in paying for the very
expensive long-term intravenous antibiotic treatment for the disease,
the vote by the panel was, I believe, skewed and biased. The panel
originally heard new testimony on this issue as a result of a case
brought by the Atty. Gen. of the state of Connecticut. See here:

http://www.idsociety.org/content.aspx?id=11182

He believed there was bias on the panel that affected the care and
treatment of thousands of individuals with this disease, and so forced
the issue.

Now we are back to the drawing board with many states and insurance
companies still refusing to support the care needed to treat the
disease. I myself, have paid over $1000 a month for my antibiotic
treatment. This is out-of-pocket, in addition to the over $600 a month
I pay to Blue Shield, my insurance company. And that does not include
my doctor visits which are about $300-$500 per month, most of which
comes out of my pocket because my doctors are not enrolled in the
insurance company panels.

Why these doctors choose not to be on the insurance company panels is
another question, one which I am researching. It has mostly to do with
the difficulty in collecting from the insurance companies, I suspect.
But it is a critical issue, and I do wonder about the profit motive. I
believe that treatment for this disease should be affordable, and it
is unconscionable that there are many who go without treatment, and
often become very sick and sometimes even die as a result of lack of
treatment.

There is, for good reason, I believe, a cadre of doctors who believe
strongly in the efficacy of long-term antibiotic treatment -- either
orally or intravenously -- for this disease.

Therefore, it was very disappointing to hear the new findings of the
IDSA, essentially stating that the current standard of care (which
amounts to about one month of the simple antibiotic doxycycline), is
substantial and adequate in all regards for the treatment of this
nefarious disease.

I write this as I lie in bed, limbs shaking, speaking into a computer,
because I cannot type. This is significant, from a previous author of
47 large books approximately 1000 pages each, and who used to be able
to earn a substantial living. I am now incapacitated and about to
apply for disability as a result of my incapacitation. Luckily there
is an application for the iPhone that allows me to speak into it and
to write at least short pieces such as this.

Latex bed update

Well, I have tried the European Sleepworks bed now (approx $2000) and it, too, smells. They are picking it up on Friday. I tried it for 60 days. At least they allow returns! About $140 in delivery and pickup charges.Next I will try an all-wool mattress -- inner spring and wool, topped with a wool 3" topper, from Earthsake, in Berkeley. Hopefully this will feel good and not smell like rubber!! Also about $2000.

Political Fundraising -- AAArg!

Just got an email from Brad Woodhouse of the Dem party, asking for $ to oppose the Republicans who are opposing banking reform. What irony. Here's a long letter I wrote in reply:

Dear Brad,

I keep being contacted by the DSCC and members of Congress for more and more contributions. This is ironic considering the state of the economy, and my health care situation, which is that I have paid $70,000 out of pocket for my health care, which is breaking the bank. Not to mention the state of the banks themselves. It must be clear to everyone in Congress by now that until we have real campaign-finance reform that our country will be hemorrhaging financially even more than already necessary. The DCCC e-mail i got this morning says that the Republicans spent $86 million fighting healthcare reform, and the Democratic Party probably tried to pass the bill by spending equal amounts. So let's figure at least $200 million was spent just campaigning for this new health care bill. If we include special interests, it's probably a billion. Talk about irony. What could we have done with $200 million? Save lots of schools? Provide healthcare for thousands and thousands of people? Feed the hungry? Instead it goes to lobbying and media ads.

To quote The News Hour interview with DAVE LEVINTHAL, Center for Responsive Politics (Dec 22, 2009):

"But what the founding fathers probably didn't anticipate when they were writing the Constitution is $3.3 billion spent on lobbying, as was the case in 2008. So, you have a situation where a lot of people feel like lobbyists and the people who hire lobbyists have really have taken over the process."

During the primaries for the last presidential election cycle, Joe Biden put it best. During a primary debate, he was the only candidate with the nerve to say that until campaign finance reform occurs and corporate money is taken out of financing campaigns we would not see any real change in Washington. So, as one of your constituents who has paid dearly to help elect Barack Obama, and often contributed to MoveOn.org and to the Democratic party, I just want to say that I am done with making financial contributions to political campaigns and causes.  Our nation's political campaigns should be financed publicly to level the playing field for all candidates. And this new policy of allowing corporations equal rights in campaign contributions is ridiculous. Although the Supreme Court argues that it is a constitutional right since corporations enjoy the same benefits as do individuals in this country, it is clearly insane that a corporation should have the right to contribute to political campaigns. The next thing you know, Congress will have human representatives of corporations filling seats.

Two or three states in our Union have adopted a public financing model for state politicians. I have interviewed one from the state of Arizona, Marc Spitzer, who said his entire strategy of work changed when he finally was converted from the old favor-payback system to public financing. Here is a quote from Spitzer from an interview with Bill Moyers on his program NOW:

MARC SPITZER: I'm running for an office that is very powerful in the state, that regulates the utilities. Does it make sense for me to go hat in hand to those utility companies to ask for campaign contributions and then if I win the election turn around and--and vote on their rate cases. Most people thought that would--that didn't make sense.

MOYERS: Spitzer had served four terms in the state Senate. And learned what it takes to raise money from special interests.

MARC SPITZER: Typical campaigns you spend an awful lot of time dialing for dollars. You're on the phone, you're calling people and you're asking for money.

MOYERS: Public funding changes all that.

MARC SPITZER Under Clean Elections once you raise the requisite number of five-dollar contributions, the fundraising is over. And you can spend all your time communicating with the people."

http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript_cleanelections.html

So, Brad, I'm going on record as choosing to no longer make contributions to political campaigns or efforts. I would like to encourage you to support any bills about public financing and campaign finance reform that come across your desk. I already pay enough taxes, and would be willing to pay a little bit more knowing that there was an equal playing field for all for all political candidates and causes.

Only a few weeks ago, many Americans thought the possibility of real health care reform was impossible in this country, due to the influence of special interests. Now this has been shown to be untrue. This Congress can do amazing things, like flying in the face of corporate influence. Now it is time for real campaign finance reform while we have momentum. Let's get the big money out of politics and free up our politicians to do the work that we have elected them to do, without the obligations they feel to those who paid for their campaigns -- the big businesses and deep pockets they owe favors. Let's see if we can actually  set an example for the world of what real democracy is, not what the military-industrial complex, or big corporations, or special-interest groups would like America to be. Think of all the good we could do with the money that is wasted on lobbying and on political campaigns. And think of all the work you and Congress could get done for us, your employers, if you all didn't have to constantly worry about financing your next campaign cycles.

By the way, asking folks to give politicians their hard-earned cash every day to support their causes, when the banks have already pilfered our savings as a result of poor Congressional versight and SEC ineptitude is an insult to our intelligence. As Einstein said, you can't solve a problem on the level of the problem. Throwing good money after bad is false economy. Get to work  introducing bills and changing policy, not championing partisan causes by filling your advertising war chests with donations from us, your tax-paying employers. We already pay you a salary. Funding a charity is one thing. I can get behind that, because they have no other sources of incme. However, funding causes brought by politicians is a very weird and undemocratic way to conduct governance in a country supposedly dedicated to the Rule of Law and the superiority of democractic principles. Does it really boil down to who ever collects the most advertising money wins the political initiative du jour? What kind of democracy is that? One where a dollar is mightier than a vote? And we wonder why voter turnout is so low. 

Sincerely,
Bob Cowart

Bob Cowart
Author of 47 books about computing
Bob@cowart.com
510-540-6667
www.cowart.com

My Windows 7 Book

 Shameless self-promotion department: For you Microsoft Windows 7 users, you may want to check out my new book on the topic. My coauthor, Brian Knittel, and I are really pleased with how this book came out. It's 1100 pages long, is published by Que (they have been my publisher for about a decade now), and is dubbed Windows 7 In Depth. It covers all versions of Windows 7. Check it out on Amazon, where you can read the table of contents and a description, and if you have a Kindle or Kindle Reader software, you can be reading it in less than a minute. Here's a little more info:

 

 

Product Description

Microsoft®

Windows 7 In Depth

Beyond the Basics…Beneath the Surface…In Depth

Microsoft Windows 7 In Depth is the comprehensive guide to Microsoft's Windows 7 for everyone who's no longer a Windows beginner: corporate, small office/home office, and personal users alike. Top Windows authors Robert Cowart and Brian Knittel have packed this 1,100-page book with intensely useful and practical information that can't be found elsewhere. You can turn here for expert guidance on... " Migrating to Windows 7 as an individual - or rolling it out throughout a business " Making the most of Windows 7's powerhouse media tools " Installing, configuring, and managing Windows 7 networks more quickly and efficiently " Securing Windows 7 PCs against spam, spyware, viruses and other "Net Nasties" " Using the updated Windows 7 interface more efficiently " Troubleshooting and solving Windows 7 problems more rapidly " And much more..

 

About the Authors

Robert Cowart has written more than 40 books that have sold more than 1 million copies worldwide. He made his name writing for Sybex and Osborne, most notably the best-selling Mastering Windows series of books. As an author and media developer for Que, Bob has written numerous Windows titles, including multiple editions of Que’s flagship Windows book, Special Edition Using Microsoft Windows. Bob recently graduated from the California Institute of Integral Studies as a Marriage and Family Therapist Intern (MFTI), starting his private practice as a psychotherapist in Northern California.

Brian Knittel is a software developer, consultant, and writer. He’s authored or coauthored many of Que’s best-selling Windows books, including Que’s leading Windows book, Special Edition Using Microsoft Windows. Brian also is the author of Windows XP Under the Hood and coauthored Upgrading and Repairing Microsoft Windows with Scott Mueller.

Here's the link.

Would you like to upgrade? NO!

What is with the overzealous programmers or app-development managers who think people are going to think it's cool or that they are getting added value if they have to upgrade their software every other day? It's getting to the point that I cannot boot up or do a day's work without having to update something or other. With Vista often I can't even shut down the PC without doing an update. iTunes is the worst about this. What is going on over at Apple, for god's sake? Don't they realize what a hassle this is? I just went to purchase an episode of Mad Men on the iTunes store and it wouldn't even let me make the purchase without upgrading iTunes once again! I think it was just last week that I had upgraded. And the update did not just require that I close iTunes but I had to uncheck at least 4 invasive options, click to accept the legalese that we never read, switch to my browser to do the download, choose the download folder, and click about ten times on various odds and ends! We all know that these updates are often an attempt by a company to mine your email and other contact info and see if the user is still alive. Why not just put up a dialog box once in a while and ask "Hey! Are you still alive? Can we keep trying to mail you spam from us and our associates?"

Just as there is a registry for opting out of phone solicitations (do-not-call lists), there should be a 'leave me alone and let me get my work done for a week' option. Inexperienced users are intimidated by all these messages anyway and don't know if they are legit or viruses, and besides, 'upgrading' often breaks an app or the way an app interacts with other apps or their add-ins. It's like when you're sitting in a restaurant and you've just gotten your coffee's balance of milk, sugar, and temperature the way you like it, and the waitress comes breezing past and tops you up, with that happy little smile, ruining the work you just did. Once I get my apps working (especially something as complex as Office), no I do not want to upgrade!

When it comes to Windows Update, do not force a reboot of my PC when I am away from it because I probably have 20 windows open with various pieces of work that are in progress and web pages open!

One of these days all apps will live on the Cloud. Then maybe it will be ok to update apps without annoying the end user too much (though UI changes will not win you friends), but until then, programmers and managers -- please limit updates to major upgrades, not petty bug fixes. We are trying to get work done with our computers. Imagine if each time you went to use your toaster a message popped up: "You need to update the firmware before you can make toast today."

Ok. While I was writing this rant I was"upgrading" iTunes. My iTunes upgrade took 20 minutes, I had to tell Vista that yes, I did want to run this program and that I trust where it came from, and now it's too late to download Mad Men and watch it. Then I had to ok the legalese again, had to refuse having iTunes be the app of choice for all sound files on my PC, I had to run iTunes, navigate to the store again, search for the episode I want to download. Well, I just saved $2.99 at least (and Apple is out a sale). But at least I have a vague satisfaction of having successfully upgraded to version 9.0.0.700 and wasted 20 minutes of my life. Well, 30 because now I get to learn the new interface 'features' that I did not want and did not ask for and was not allowed to opt out of if I wanted to download Mad Men season 3 episode 2.

Aargh! Frakking computers! Where is that paperback I was reading? Oh it's in my Kindle. (I signed up for this great idea called the paperless office last month.) Hmm... Did I remember to charge it up? Oh hell, I'm going to put a vinyl record on the record player, and fix a cup of coffee just the way I like it.