My political odyssey is quite simple.

I have been self employed most of my life.

At age 18 I did not know anything about computers. My father brought home an Apple II. That was all she wrote. I took to the hardware and programming like a fish to water.

I took a 2nd shift computer operators position at the local company here that just happened to be #1 in the world in the design, manufacturing and sales of paper machines. Paper machines are some of the largest machines in the world. It was a 2.5 year slough of low pay, good benefits and tons of corporate BS.

I started my own part-time business with my father and my younger brother who was 12 at the time. We started off writing checking account software for small businesses on the Apple II, III and IBM PC platforms. The software expanded to include all aspects of customized accounting the bulk of which was payroll for the companies I was dealing with at the time. I am still dealing with such companies.

My father was a founding member of The Numerical Control Society. It was an association with an annual national conference and trade show. It was starting to fail due to poor management in the late 70s, early 80s. He voluntarily took over as executive director and moved the offices from some high priced office complex in Chicago to the basement of the South College building at Beloit College. He hired me to do the monthly newsletter. I had experience from my high school and college days working on the newspapers and print shops. I was doing ground breaking desktop publishing on a brand spanking new Macintosh in 1985 complete with Apple Laserwriter and Aldus Pagemaker. I was traveling to shops getting stories, taking photos, attending regional and national conventions and trade shows. I got in with a company doing metal fabrication and wrote a complete job shop accounting system for them and even worked into a sales rep position for a couple of years. The salesman I was working with was a stereotype three martini lunch, custom suits, shirts, shoes, new Lincoln Town Car blah blah blah. It was a hoot. More days than not we got so drunk at lunch we just couldn't work the rest of the day!

Over the years I worked for small mom & pop type small to medium sized businesses included a Dental Lab, a Ready Mix Concrete company, Metal Fabrication and Machine Shop companies, Large companies including Siemens, Dow Chemical, U.S. West, Allen Bradley (a division of Rockwell at the time) I was sickened by the "corporate/government" environment that is IMO filled with incompetent, lying, a$$-kissing, back-stabbing phonies. I knew pretty early on that coupled with my innate anti-authoritarian attitude that I would not thrive in such an environment.

I had to succeed or fail on my own. The jury is still out on that. I hope to have the whole success/failure thing worked out within the next 10 years so I can retire on my own money and not even apply for Socialist Security.

Socialist Security is money that I feel is being stolen from me. At the very least, it is certainly being taken from me against my will. The bastards in Wastetington DC have already spent what they stole and continue to steal from me to fund the current recipients. They will then steal from someone else to pay my "benefits". I cannot steal from others. It goes against everything I hold sacred in my heart and mind. I am certain that I will never apply for Socialist Security "benefits" no matter what my financial situation.

Fifteen plus years ago my older brother and I went on a crusade of sorts to try to make one aspect of our government more efficient, accountable and effective for the services they are entrusted to provide the people. I am referring to Public Safety and specifically 9-1-1 dispatch and emergency operation centers.

We are going national. We hope. In three weeks we are traveling to a test facility of a company contracted by FEMA to certify our system for a nationwide "approved software/system list".

We have 3 new counties who are suppose to come on-board with us this year. If we get one of them I will be throwing a party. If we get all 3 I will be debt free except for my mortgage, and will be well on my way to a healthy financial retirement.

I hate computers btw. I live to get away from them because I spend most waking hours in front of the screen. But then I play World Of Warcraft every evening for a couple hours.

The entertainment I get from that game is so much better than anything I can watch on prime time TV.

I like the Mercedes model with the gull wing doors shown in the movie “Elevator to the Gallows”. MB might offer a 2011 gull wing door model in 2011.

The astronomical photos that you sometimes post are interesting. If NASA were ever to allow amateur astronomers the opportunity to operate the Hubble space telescope by using a remote internet hook-up, what would you photograph and why?

Like this one?



and the new one for 2010...



As far as what object I would like to photograph with the Hubbel? Hmmm, I would have to do more research on what they have not yet imaged and go for one of those objects.

I like galaxies so it would probably be a galaxy.

Ok, markj, 'fess up. Did you drag Mrs J out on Mother's Day to see this?

Sky show for Mother's Day

I did not.

I didn't even know it was happening.

I am currently in "idle mode" in the hobby.

So you mentioned the dog of the week thread that you rented a plane and flew out to Kansas to pick up your pooch.

Presumably this means you are licensed to fly a plane. What's the scoop?

I was training to be a pilot at the time.

A client's son is a commercial pilot and certified flying instructor. He went along and let me fly most of the way there and back.

We were in IFR conditions most of the way.

What fun that was.

Money and a sense of "Being around" for me children put a stop to my aspirations of becoming a pilot.

Delighted to hear the great news on the daughter. I remember you sharing some of the hard times when they were happening.

I was surprised to read that you were originally from Ohio because I am as well. Where did you spend your early years? (I grew up about 15 miles west of Steubenville.)

Have you read anything interesting lately? Seen any good movies that you'd recommend? Do you have any other avocations that we're unaware of besides the piano and astrophotography?

Tell us a little bit about how you and Mrs. Mark came to be a couple.

Big Al

Thank you Al.

Born in Warren OH. Lived there until we moved to Greensburg in 1970.

Last book I read was "The Crime and Punishment of I.G. Farben". I do not read much fiction. The last piece of fiction I read was The Lord of The Rings (for the 3rd time) and I read it to my 2 oldest daughters a chapter a night for about a year.

I do not generally waste my money on movies. Most movies do not interest me.

I like working on cars and anything mechanical/electrical.

In 2001 I invented (designed and sub-contracted the manufacturing) a couple of aluminum brackets for securing a auto-focusing stepper motor to various telescope focusers which I still manufacture and sell today. I am filling an order of 55 brackets as I type this. I will be delivering them today.

I met Mrs. Mark at Beloit College. Nether of us were enrolled there. lol We were attending the same dorm party. We had mutual friends at the time but I had no idea who she was. When I saw her for the first time I leaned over to my best friend Andy and asked if he knew her. He vaguely knew her as a friend of a friend. I told him that she was the woman I would marry someday. He laughed and said, "Yeah right! good luck with that! He was to be my best man but sadly Andy died two months before we were married.

I approached her at that party and started talking to her. We hit it off. We went on our first official date the next day which was St. Patrick's Day. We went to the college bar and had green beer. lol. She was a couple of months under age at the time. (Drinking age was 18 back then). I had just turned 22 and she was 17 & 5/6.

She knew who I was as her father worked for my father at the time. Apparently I was known as "the Jenkins boy who couldn't make up his mind what he wanted to do with his life".

I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up.

how did I miss this?

Mark, How are You?

I'm good Mary thanks for asking.

I am 4.5 weeks smoke free!

Now I need to concentrate on my food addiction.

I need to shed about 50 or so pounds.

quote:

Originally posted by markj:
I am 4.5 weeks smoke free!

I didn't realize you were a smoker, nor a quitter!

YOu are doing great Mark. Keep it up and send your positvie vibes to poor Big John who keeps trying to quit.

quote:

We have finally found the root cause of all of it thanks to an excellent endocrinologist.

i am very interested in this subject from a biology point of view. would you reveal what the endocrinologist found? how does that relate to depression? (cause/effect?) do they know what caused the endocrine problem?

have you ever traveled to large astronomical observatories? if so, where? if not, where would you most like to visit?

do you enjoy travel?

She has been under the care of an endocrinologist here in town since Early December 2009. Initial visit was very encouraging but cautiously so. We had weened her off all anti-depressant and sleep aid medication so that her last dose was approximately 6 weeks before we went to see the endocrinologist. Even after stopping all of the meds she was in the same condition as when she was on them.

Her psychiatrist kept insisting on keeping her all "doped up" as I like to refer it. At one point we had a zombie for a daughter. She slept 16+ hour per day. She was numb. She had no feelings at all. Good or bad. It was like she was in a conscious coma. It was horrible. After we insisted that she stop this insanity of a handful of pills in the morning, afternoon and night the psychiatrist then kept insisting that she needed to be institutionalized and subjected to electro shock. I kept asking this so-called doctor what the cause of all of this was and she was never able to answer that question. In fact all the "doctors" we saw over the past 6+ years were all just as clueless. I have never been one to slight the psychiatric "sciences" but after experiencing it for many years I am convinced it is really bad science and even worse "medicine".

Anyway I was at the end of my rope with the psychiatric care community. I am convinced they are nothing but experimental drug pushers tied at the hip of the pharmaceutical companies.

So, the first appointment at the endocrinologist was encouraging as I said. He ordered an initial set of blood tests and we went back a couple of weeks later. He reported some anomalies and two that really stuck out as needing to be addressed immediately.

1) Her ACTH levels were low.
2) She had the most severe Vitamin D deficiency he had ever seen in his quite long career.

He "took a guess" about what was causing the ACTH level anomaly based on his many years of experience and prescribed a low dosage cortisol supplement.

He also put her on a daily Vitamin D supplement. Pure Vitamin D not one with a bunch of fillers that you normally get at the health food store. He recommended an on-line source for this to avoid us needlessly spending extra money on a prescription which are available but he is a very practical doctor.

It was like flipping a switch. Three days after starting the cortisol supplement we started noticing a difference in her and each day after that it got more noticeable. After about a week I sat down with her and asked how she thought this was working. She said she noticed a difference and that she wasn't sure she liked "this new personality". I hugged her and told her that this was her real personality coming out and that it had been hidden from her for so long that she was basically addicted to feeling bad. She sort of agreed with that but was still suspicious of this "new person" that she had forgotten. Tears of joy were the order of the day in our house every time we told the good news to someone else in the family.

She underwent some additional tests. One was a couple of hours long. She had to have an IV and blood draws every 10 minutes. This test revealed that her pituitary is not functioning properly. Her pituitary is not producing the ACTH hormone which regulates the steroid hormone cortisol, which is released by the adrenal cortex.

We noticed a dramatic downward spiral when they took her off the cortisol supplement about a week before the test. I mean within 2 to 3 days she was back to being severely depressed. She stayed off the cortisol for about a week after the test when we received a phone call from the doctor telling us the results and to get her back on the cortisol ASAP. Two days later she started coming out of the severe depression.

She was still struggling in early March but it was nowhere near as severe and she was actually upbeat and very talkative most of the time. Her monthly cycle was still throwing her into a loop but lately even that is not as dramatic.

Overall she is way better than at anytime during the past 6-7 years. None of the anti-depressants that are on the market today from lithium (yep the bi-polar/schizophrenic drug) to the latest "fad" drugs as I like to call them ever did anything to help her. She was diagnosed "treatment -resistant" for depression and all the psychiatric people wanted to do was institutionalize her and perform electro-shock treatments which would have just made matters worse.

The Dr. wanted an MRI of her brain. They got her in two days later and we received the preliminary results the following week. The MRI confirmed that her pituitary is "abnormal". No visible tumors but shadows where there should not be any and the size of the pituitary is abnormally large. This could also be putting pressure on the surrounding brain tissue and that could also be part of her problem.

We had another set of experts read her MRI and they have ordered a follow-up MRI in 6 months. They confirmed a small lesion on the side of the pituitary. It is not putting pressure on the brain but it is enlarged and the follow-up MRI is to make sure it is not growing.

There will be two possible treatment options depending on the ultimate results of these MRI scans.

1) We start talking to brain surgeons to go in and "fix" her pituitary gland.

2) She will be on a cortisol supplement for the rest of her life.

She is still seeing a counselor every month and has other outlets to discuss things with people who are not her parents and will keep her talks in confidence. This is even in the waning stages. She no longer feels compelled to cut herself and her thoughts of suicide lessen with each passing week to a point that they are not happening daily or even weekly as far as I can tell. We talk often about how she is doing. She was depressed for so long with no relief ever that she is still suspicious that this will last. I can sympathize with her on that for sure.

It will be a long road for her to start realizing that the person she thought she was isn't real. This is one of the hardest things she is having to come to grips with. She told me early on that she doesn't like her "angry personality". I think she was just starting to be a normal teenager who is having feelings she never thought she ever wanted to have in regards to life, like sex, (she is totally against it! lol I love that about her but I know it's not completely normal for anyone to have such a visceral reaction to the subject), having silly teenage fun at functions (dances perhaps?) and liking some of the music of her peers. She doesn't like to admit that she likes some contemporary music for instance but even that is starting to wane.

We have our beautiful, daughter back and we could not be happier with the progress that was made in such a short time.

I only wish we had thought about doing this sooner. A lot sooner!

(If you or someone you know is struggling with life-long issues of severe "treatment resistant" depression, I cannot recommend enough that you or they go see a qualified endocrinologist.

Wow. That was a long post!

You've reduced me to tears, Mark.