Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

Good evening, Elle!
I have had a fairly quiet day.
Just out with Miss L-B to ASDA and Pine Cone.
There is no damage to the cafe but quite a bit to the forestry sheds etc.
The cafe has no heating just now, that's all, and they have an overflow verandah/extension which is closed because they can't heat it, and think it is a bit chilly.
And they asked me if we would mind if another couple shared our table as they were pressed for tables, and that was perfectly fine with us.
They were very nice folk and we a good blether before we left.
They have some portable heaters in the main cafe.
Other than that it was fairly normal.
So, your house is quiet! You'll miss the family!
I had a pleasant couple of hours earlier.
I found a bin bag full of old family photos.
So my task tomorrow is to try and get good copies of the photos using my mobile 'phone and save them to Google Photos.
Then I can distribute them among the family.
Was great seeing my boys when they were wee, and the grandchildren!

Hi, Rusty!
You will be relieved that there is not any damage to the cafe section of the Pine Cone.
And let's hope that all gets sorted elsewhere as quickly as possible.
Do they know how the fire started?
That was a good find ......all the old family photographs!
You will have enjoyed looking through them.......and now you plan to "preserve" them in another form?
I would not know how to do that?
We ourselves have a couple of holdalls packed with "old" photos, taken in abundance when our son and two daughters were young.
We got around to filling a lot of photo albums.......but still have many loose snaps!
I still prefer looking through the albums, rather than looking at the photos online!

Hello, Elle!
I don't know how the fire started,
But the cafe was open when it did on Sat afternoon.
Copying the photos is pretty straightforward.
I have a modern smart phone with an excellent camera on it.
I'll photograph the photos in the best available light and I have high hopes of good results.
The beauty of storing them in Google Photos is that I can send the copied photos to anyone in the family, on WhatsApp, absolutely free.
At present I have about 1300 photos stored in Google Photos, and I have that app on my 'phone, tablet, and Chromebook, so they are always with me.
I'm a sentimental old joker!

Good morning, Rusty!
We have another beautiful day here, but a little cool as yet......
I think we may hit a high of 18C later on.
A pleasant early walk.
Yes, I can certainly understand that you like to have your photos with you at all times.
It is a lovely idea.
I don't have that sort of facility on my phone, though, but we do have a lot of the more recent pics stored on the desk top computer.
My daughters email me photos all the time of the young ones, and I then "save" them on the computer.
I still like to "dig out" the old albums, though, from time to time.....
I am going out for lunch today.......a feeble rendering of "ladies who lunch"!!

Good morning, Elle!
A fine day here!
Do you back your photos up on your computer?
You would not want to lose them.
I like Google Photos because I can log in on any computer or phone, type my password, and all my photos appear.
I like that.
Hope you have a nice lunch!
I am off to see my nurse for a blood sample later.
And I need a light bulb!

Hi, Rusty!
Oh dear, I don't know what happens to the photographs?
It is all quite beyond me!
I think my husband said they are "saved in the cloud".......
Does that sound right?
Are you going for your repeat transaminase test?
I hope it lies within normal limits this time around.
My friend has just texted me to say she will be here to pick me up very shortly....I am not sure where we are going!
Catch up with you later......

Hello, Elle,
Yes, I think your husband is perfectly correct.
Everything is in the "cloud" these days!
I can go on a complete stranger's tablet, say, and log in to Google Photos and my photos appear.
I think it's great!
All I need is my Google password.
On my Chromebook everything is in the cloud.
It means when I switch it on, I can do stuff after three seconds or so, instead of waiting for a while for it to load up, as I had to do when I had a laptop.
And I don't need anti-virus stuff, GoogleChrome takes care of that.
Yes, it's for the ALT test.
My Doc says it's a statin that's raising it.

rusty- you can find the original, and the research, if you Google "The Higher your cholesterol, the longer you live"

" For many years I have told anyone who will listen that, if you have a high cholesterol level, you will live longer. Equally, if you have a low cholesterol level, you will die younger. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a fact. The older you become the more beneficial it is to have a high cholesterol level.

This fact has become more difficult to demonstrate recently as so many people have been put on statins that the association between cholesterol levels and mortality has been twisted, bent and pumelled into the weirdest shapes imaginable. However, Japan, provides some very interesting data.

The entire study can be read free online here."

Higher levels of ALT can indicate heart or liver damage. Statins cut off a metabolic pathway that leads to many compounds, the function of some we are only just beginning to understand. Cholesterol is vital to life. But the money involved is billions...................

Good afternoon, Rusty!
I am home again, having had a delicious lunch of Sicilian crepes and French fries!
My friend has just dropped me home, and is now driving back to Benfleet.
Yes, it could well be the statins that are causing the slight rise in your ALT result.
I'm assuming that your AST is normal, as you haven't mentioned that?
A raised ALT can be indicative of a liver problem...but would need to be about three times the upper normal, before there is any need for serious concern.
(Your result sounded fine, from what you said previously)
A raised AST could indicate a heart problem.
Now statins...…
Is your Cholesterol LDL within its normal limits?
It is this that is important ...and not the Total Cholesterol level .
(There is a special formula for working out the LDL...... using Total Cholesterol, HDL, and Triglyceride levels)
Some GPs are unaware of this...but a "good" laboratory should give all (parts of) results, and clearly state the accepted "normals" used for that particular lab.
One can ask the GP for a printout of all one's results.
It is a regrettable fact though that many patients are on statins, when they do not need to be.
in most cases, if the patient's LDL is normal, they do not need to be taking statins.
But hopefully, this all is academic, as your own practice sounds to be very efficient and "on the ball".
And I am sure is looking after you very well!

In the news (yesterday? day before?) was that statins are completely ineffective in 50% of those treated.