PRAYER
I think you should leave it in just to save my ass. When I accidentally have my speaker on and the “Hey all you Assholes…” blasts out, I know that I can just leave it on for about 3 more seconds and then a “Dear Lord…” will start and then I can turn it off. People will question the asshole part, but they are sure they heard the prayer.
DRINKING = HEART ATTACK
I answered yes to the poll question. I’m living in Ukraine and, before you, Keith Malley and others, jump to the uni-brow chicks-with-dicks conclusion that is coming, let me share an observation on hot Ukrainian women: not Mila Kunis, not Milla Jovovich, but my Ukrainian wife, the mother of my 3 kids, having fun this summer at a topless beach.
Here in Ukraine, probably the same as in New York, the airport is the equivalent of the cantina scene in Star Wars. You don’t look for help from them; you get the hell out of there ASAP. I’m not surprised about what happened to Keith in Kiev. He got recommended a hotel by an employee that was getting a kickback and then got handed over to a rogue taxi and driven to someone’s house that had a few extra rooms built on to it.
Anyway, drinking is taken rather seriously here. Lots of rules for drinking – standing, greeting, singing, similar to Catholic services. Several times after drinking the almost obligatory 15-20 shots of vodka or cognac at a dinner party, I’ve woken up in the early morning by my heart about to jump out of my chest. It beats so hard I feel like it’s going to explode, it once gave me a nosebleed. It is often accompanied by aches, pains, and shortness of breath. I always associated it with a hangover. Until you mentioned dehydration, I never realized that the same cardio activity should have been accompanied with sweating, but it never was.
Thank you, Dr. Malley, for conducting this vital research.
COFFEE RESEARCH BS
Regarding the coffee research, you can just throw those conclusions out the window. The problem with a lot of research is they just draw conclusions from relationships that may be coincidence, not from practical review of the materials. Your alcohol > dehydration > heart attack symptoms is a logical progression. You see people cite stuff like the coffee and have too many questions. Are you drinking good coffee? Are you so upset that you can’t afford more than 2 cups a day of the $5/cup coffee that it’s pissing you off? Did the researchers have access to people who were drinking 10 cups a day? Probably not because those people were too damn busy and productive to participate in a coffee-drinking survey. I saw a study from the UK about how the consumption of fast food was linked to depression. The way it was presented was that people who ate fast food were more likely to be depressed because studies of diet and depression showed relationships between the two. The logic behind the study is just the opposite and the conclusion should have been: Sad meat-sacks that can’t develop relationships or earn decent money at a normal job are more likely to be depressed AND eat cheap fast food. Of course you’re going to be happier if you eat home-cooked meals. Either you have the free time to make it yourself (ie – you’re not working 2 jobs to make rent) or there is someone else who cares enough about you to take the time to make you dinner.