I'M SERIOUSLY WORKING ON GETTING THE COMMENTS TO GET POSTED. SO FAR, SO BAD

I just want to give an update on how things are going with increasing my readership. It's working. A little. My husband and one of my God daughters were able to tell me how frustrating it is that they try to comment and it never goes through.

This has been a problem since day 1. I gave  fixing this a shot, but was unable at that time to do anything. So, I did what every red blooded American does with a problem. I forgot about it.

PS. There is no where in the help page or tools about comments. At least not that I could find.

Now, since it's come up again, I thought. Ah. Maybe if I pay for whatever "they" offer, it will allow comments to be posted.



So......... I looked this up on Blogger and it shows up as 'ads'.  So.
 I don't want what in the hell I'd be advertising, but I looked anyway to see what the cost was. Get this. For only $30, and I think I remember this right, but it doesn't seem possible, any time someone clicks on your link, you pay 30 bucks. Maybe I read it wrong. Maybe it was 30 bucks a day. But, even at that, who can spend that kind of money for people to click and possibly/probably not even read the damned thing?

I have friends who own a business and they pay big money to be at the top of engine searches. Some years ago, I think they paid $5 a hit, plus whatever it cost to be listed on top.  Any time anyone clicked on their site it cost them five dollars. Or did.  Well, Thank God they have a really thriving business, although I still can't imagine the cost.




In my fiendish little mind, though, I did have an idea. If I wasn't happy with a particular seller, I could repeatedly hit their site and cost them lots of money. On the other hand, they probably would have trackers and I'd get arrested. So, I'm glad I didn't do it. I know. I have morally reprehensible thoughts but I don't act on them. I suppose if I were Catholic I'd be going to Hell anyway. At least I wouldn't be lonely. So.  If I could, I'd hit Walmart's. Constantly. For hours and days.  Could I be sued if I suggested doing this to all of my readers?  On general principal I hate Walmart. Not just for what they did to our mom and pop stores. That was bad enough. So I have basically boycotted them for 4 years. Like they care.

When I found out that they are such horrible employers, I decided I couldn't shop there. They pay shit wages. They don't take full time employees so they don't have to pay medical or over time. They don't give their staff their schedules in advance, so having a second job, which when you work for them is necessary for survival, they almost can't have that second job, because you have to know what hours you can work for someone else. 

 Last year they made a big hoo ha ha about increasing wages. Apparently my boycott is working.
 My sources tell me it was a weak and unfulfilling gesture for most of their workers.  We, the public are not appeased you Bastards.

 

There I go off topic. Anyway, I am trying. On the comment thing. Maybe you forget also what I started out with.

 Remember you can comment on my face book page or on Google + or write an email to (I wasn't thinking when I made this ridiculously long address) Dr.gsridiculoustheories@gmail.com.




OMG. I hope that is an actual link. Maybe you won't have to retype it and can just write to me.  I will not get excited in advance. That leads to disappointment. I won't get excited in advance. I'll keep saying that to myself, and say, til the next time.

oops.  theory:
Life is difficult. It becomes more difficult when we care about something or someone.

          HYPOTHESIS:
If you don't care about something or someone, you will shrivel up and die.

ps.  I'M NOT GOING TO TRY TO PROVE THIS ONE. WE ALL KNOW IT'S TRUE.


So, again. Until the next time. keep reading. no matter what it is. Knowledge is power.

HOW DID CAVEMEN DEAL WITH INSOMNIA? DID THEY HIT EACH OTHER OVER THE HEAD WITH CLUBS?

 

My latest ridiculous theory:  Insomnia is a modern illness that is responsible for more than half of human beings problems.

Theory:  Effective sleep is necessary for effective functioning, which includes sustained attention. When one does not get sufficient or efficient sleep, one is unable to sustain one’s attention and a good immune system.

Hypothesis: When a person is physically weakened and unable to sustain attention to his environment, bad shit happens.

[*ad1]

Research design:

Well, none. Basically proving this theory takes gathering information, explaining it and attempting to prove the hypothesis.

DATA COLLECTION

In order to avoid confusion, it’s proper form to write out, working definitions of the terms being used. This way, everyone is on the same page. Here are some.

• Insomnia: Difficulty in getting to sleep or staying asleep “also not feeling rested after sleeping."
• Consciousness: Mental awareness of sensations, perceptions, memories and feelings.
• Restorative sleep: Sleep from which you awaken feeling rested and alert.
• Sleep disturbances: there are sleep disorders and one text listed 12 of them. We will focus on insomnia.
• Sustained attention: the ability to maintain focused awareness on a target or idea.
• Waking consciousness: a state of clear, organized alertness. 

 It’s interesting to note, that in many psychology texts, there is no definition of sleep. There is a lot written about it, but much is still unknown. So for today, we’ll say it’s an altered state of consciousness which changes the quality or pattern of mental activity. 

 

TO SLEEP, PERCHANCE TO DREAM

 

Even back in Shakespeare’s time, sleep was something that was sought after. I can’t help but wonder when not being able to sleep became an issue.

This is my rambling part. It should be under another digression, but I think it's not that off the path. Did cavemen have trouble sleeping? And laborers, and farmers and if you look back in history, until there was a way of making light, we kept pace with sunrise and sunset. Our circadian rhythms are still set for day and night. However, technology has turned that upside down and I believe that is one of the reasons for having so many sleep disorders.

 

The text books will all tell us that sleep is an innate biological rhythm that can never be entirely ignored.  There are numerous theories about sleep but they are very hard to prove. Letting one’s subjects die during an experiment is generally frowned upon, unless you work in the pharmaceutical sector. 

[*ad2]

Fact: Everyone needs to sleep. Some can get by on more, some on less but you’ll eventually fall asleep whether you want to or not.

INSOMNIA:

According to one textbook, there are several types of Insomnia. They listed

worry, stress and excitement as a cause of temporary problems. If it goes on for longer than three weeks, they will call it chronic.

 The other type they referred to was drug dependency insomnia, caused by withdrawal from sleeping pills. That’s rich. You take something to help you sleep. Then you stop taking it and you can’t sleep because either your body is in withdrawal from being addicted to it, or you’re having what’s called rebound which may cause terrible nightmares so you go back to the drugs. Now you may realize why I made that nasty remark about the pharma industry.

 And that’s it. Those are the only two reasons they give for insomnia. They forgot to mention depression. I suppose they saved that for another chapter, but depressions favorite trick is called early waking. That’s when you can fall asleep without a problem, but then, you wake up at an ungodly hour, like 4 am and cannot get back to sleep.

 

All insomnia sucks, but it really is awful when you are a worker bee. For me, who has a lifetime membership in that club, being retired has given me a pass. As long as I don’t have to get up at a specific time, usually early, if I can’t sleep or don’t sleep well, it doesn’t ruin me like it used to. It's still no fun, but the consequences aren't as bad.

SYMPTOMS OF LACK OF RESTORATIVE SLEEP:

• Miss work
• Make bad decisions
• Take more risks
• Have trouble concentrating
• Be irritable
• Be depressed
• 

  And Symptoms of daytime fatigue include:

• Weariness, weakness, and/or depleted energy
• Lack of motivation
• Poor performance
• Memory problems
• Lack of productivity
• Tendency to make errors and mistakes
• Depression
• Low interest in being social
• Eat foods high in calories             

   You can see how these symptoms would be problematic in your life. Right?

COMPARE THESE SYMPTOMS TO HOW YOU ARE AFTER A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP:

1. awake,
2. alert
3. able to maintain your focus
4. energetic
5. able to remember things
6. better mood

Findings:

Sleep is necessary for survival, although scientists have only theorized the reason for this. However, lack of sleep has been researched and the findings are:

Insomnia increases your risk for health problems, including:

• Heart disease
• Stroke
• High blood pressure
• Infections
• Obesity
• Diabetes
• Depression
• Pain
• Substance abuse
• Early death

According to the CCD:

Sleep is increasingly recognized as important to public health, with sleep insufficiency linked to motor vehicle crashes, industrial disasters, and medical and other occupational errors.  [Like a doctor cutting off the wrong leg.]Unintentionally falling asleep, nodding off while driving, and having difficulty performing daily tasks because of sleepiness all may contribute to these hazardous outcomes.

Conclusion:
I believe that I have proven my hypothesis. Insomnia creates conditions that are conducive to wreaking havoc in your lives. It can cause illness and accidents. Drugs are not the solution. As seen, they are part of the problem.

The help for insomnia is called sleep hygiene. There are several steps that when done as directed, are very helpful. I will not list them, because I'm trying to keep this brief. However, there is help. As with everything else, you will have to work at lessoning the episodes of insomnia. [*ad3]

And, if all else fails, you can just start reading my blogs from the beginning, and I'm sure they will put you in a nice restful sleep, or possibly a coma. I cannot guarantee either because I don't want to be sued.

footnotes
*ad1 - man, this is dry and boring. Well, maybe this part. it get's better.

*ad2- I am having a very hard time sticking to the format. I can see that it will not work for all topics.

*ad3- This was harder to write. Well, actually easier since I just had to look shit up and copy it. That was no fun for me. And, the answers were actually in the material so I didn't have a chance to really say what I wanted to because it would have been redundant and I'm not sure this is shorter anyway. Oh well.

Thanks for reading.

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT REFORMATTING THIS BLOG

MY LATEST RIDICULOUS THEORY ON LENGTH OF ANYTHING.

When I look at my blog, after it's posted, I see that it's way too long to keep most people's attention. Even mine, and I wrote it!

THEORY:
People's span of attention is short. Especially when reading news articles or articles on line. Due to the length on my posts, fewer people read them.

HYPOTHESIS:
If I change the format of my blog, so it reflects a theory, hypothesis etc., then, limiting the number of words in each section there will be a surge in followers.

RESEARCH DESIGN:
The design [*a digression1]  for this type of query is difficult. The variables are, I think, the two different formats of the blog. I think that makes sense.
The population is a bit more tricky. I can only go by my current statistics and say that the number of people who read each post varies from 17 to 36. The sample would be the entire population of Google+ who has access to reading this. Therefore, infinite. That's good because the larger the sample, the more accurate the results. LOL for this one.

  

The only thing I can do, really is a descriptive study. That means, that I will write five blogs in the new format. I will use the same hashtags for all five. [*ad2.]  Basically, I'll write my usual blogs, sticking to this format. Heaven help me, they won't be dry and scientific like this one. Shorter. I'm only attempting for shorter.

I will describe what I did to get my results, if anything. Only I will also add in the data, findings and conclusion.

DATA:
What? I'm not a magician. I only started the experiment. I ain't got no stinkin data.    All I got is an idea. So sue me.

FINDINGS:
This format may be too limiting. I'll have to see. I have no findings because we have just begun. You are my research subjects. Please, pretty please, help me do this experiment. Don't let me down. [ *ad3.]

CONCLUSION:

I conclude that I'm a brave individual. I have no conclusion yet, but I have hope. If I had money, I could pay you, but I'm a scientist. Not a politician. They pay people and they manipulate the statistics. That's another post for another day.
So, you'll just have to wait and read the five new posts, and hope I can keep it short.

I'm going to still put in pictures. I like pictures and it's my research and I can do what I want. So there.

*FOOTNOTES

[My footnotes have always been referred to as digressions. Since I have more than one, they are titled, Another Digression. I have decided to use the symbol *ad with a number. This way, it give me leeway to go off on the tangents that make my posts longer. So, you have choices. You can read the post and then the foot notes, or ignore them if you're in a hurry.  You can read them as they occur or you can just read the footnotes because that's usually where most of the funny stuff ends up.]

*ad1- I looked up the different methodologies in my Psychology text.  It was not easy to decide which one fit.
According to the scientific method, which I am trying to follow, A. One first, observes, B. then predicts, C. tests, D. interprets and E. communicates the results.  Okay. But how do you do that if you don't have an actual experiment? 
It's the research design that stymies me.

*ad2 -If I changed them, they would be extraneous variables. Those are things that could throw off all your research. And, make a researcher look like an idiot.

*ad3- I feel like I'm back, doing my dissertation. That was torture. I used the teachers in the school I worked in and had to pray they returned their surveys. Approximately 97% did. That was huge. And, if any of you besides Shelley are reading this, you still have all my gratitude.