Learning about celiac disease

Late last year after a few doctor visits and some extensive testing I got the diagnose of having celiac disease. I hadn't even heard of the term. I might of heard about being gluten intolerant or being allergic to flour. But if someone would have asked me 'what is gluten', well I'd probably say "Google it". 

Today, well I know much more about it and knowing that my immune system attacks itself whenever I eat it, it's safe to say I try to avoid it at all cost.. But gluten food... It is so yummy. Adjusting to a life without it and also always have to double check with restaurants etc when eating out.. It is no fun.

So by a few statements here you probably understand that gluten is found in flour and in different kinds of food. But what is it really? Gluten is a general name for proteins that you will find in different wheat kinds as well as rye, barley etc. and it is what binds the food together like 'glue'.

Luckily not all kinds of flour has gluten in it, like corn flour, almond flour and even oat should be gluten-free unless the fabric are using the same tools and machines creating other flours that contains gluten. But for it to get a similar consistency as normal bread you have to add i.e xanthan gum, guar gum, or fibrex etc.

Funnily at the beginning of the year there was a parody song on YouTube based on Adele's hit "Hello" where part of the lyrics said "This gluten-free bread taste like a sponge", which I had to LOL at because it isn't that far from the truth. I have a long way to go when it comes to test out different recipes.

Sooo, gluten makes the immune system attack itself what do you mean with that you might ask?
Probably my poor wordings.. But yes.. You see the gluten causes the immune system to damage the small intestine. Picture it like this, we have branches in out small intestine (actually called Villi) that picks up nutrients that our body needs. But when the immune system attacks these branches it leaves it unable to absorb the nutrients like vitamins and minerals. There are other long terms affects too like Lactose intolerance, Gallbladder malfunction (I've already had mine removed years back), Pancreatic insufficiency etc.

When reading about celiac disease after the diagnose, I only wish I had learned about it earlier. It came with a lot of aha experiences that I've had issue with since I was a teenager. From what I understood it is quite normal to figure this out in your 30's and about 1 out of 100 has it.

I was actually looking through some of the recipes we used at primary school and secondary school and what do you know.. Gluten, gluten and more gluten. Hopefully we are more vary about this these days.

Tragic!

I'm sure most people by now that watch the news on TV, newspaper or on the internet through social feed etc. knows about the horrible massacre that happened in a gay club in Orlando. It's just sad the world we live in today.

I still cannot phantom how love can bring so much hate from other people.
It kept me up most of the night.

How can some people judge and decide other peoples fate and human rights?  Taking matters into their own hands with doing something so drastic like killing 49 people (and I heard it was 53 injured)?

We live in a world that people judge based on someone not living up to "their" standards meaning not being religious enough, straight enough, black enough, white enough... and believe it or not... Gay enough..

It is scary when people can't accept that other people are different and choose to act with violence instead of turning a blind eye as it is not their life to live.

Bombing, Guns, knives - weapon that are used instead of words and minds unwilling to understand and acknowledge that all life has value.


Equally as disturbing is seeing that people can celebrate and justify these actions. So much hate. It makes me sad and also makes me wonder what has happened to them that made these individuals turn of their humanity switch?

Time flies when you're getting older...

Sooo it's been almost 3 years.. Where did the time go...?

Some say "Time flies when you're having fun", but I must admit it does just seem to fly away the older you get. Not that I have a problem with getting older - far from it. It is one of the pleasant things in life, you mature and hopefully get wiser.

I guess so much has changed since then. In 2014, I started the 'Certified System Specialist' program where I took some Microsoft certifications (MTA 98-349, MTA 98-365, MTA 98-366 and MCSA in Server 2012). Shortly after in 2015 I took a Service Desk Technician job as a 1st and 2nd line supporter. I was of course at the time hoping that I'd get the chance as an Server Administrator or such, but the lower levels seems to be the jobs that are in-demand and  easiest to get. Supporter jobs in general are.

Right now I am looking for a new challenge, so we will see where that takes me (and my partner). I guess still getting more certifications might be the way to go to keep myself updated in the field and in that way making me still attractive on the job market. *Crossing my fingers*

Also in 2013 I was on a good path with the walking ending up loosing 30 kg, but after getting love struck it is safe to say the kg slowly came back on during 2015/2016.. I am hoping 2016 will be a good year getting me and my baby back on track.

Ta ta for now. =)

Destination Bodrum, Pamukkale and Kos part 3

Alright...  I admit it, I might be the worse blogger in the world.
Have to say I doubt anybody has been tiptoeing around waiting for the next update but regardless, completing things we start should always be a missing. So here I am.. Gonna try and wrap it up.

I suppose without looking back and reading through stuff "Kos" is the next pit stop on the journey.
If memory serves me correct it was another early morning, but I think we got one hour extra sleep than the trip to Pamukkale - not that it mattered much since we usually crashed in the morning hours.

As last time we waited up by the hotel where a mini cab would pick us and others up. Several hotel stops picking up mostly Russian speaking people,  before we were at the  final stop getting our tickets. There seemed to be two lines one for the ferry (that we apparently were taking) and the other line that were a couple feet away were for the fast ride. The fast ride should take about 20 min over one way, while the ferry usually takes about an hour one way.

As the Scandinavians we are (or I should say in this case 'I am') when we saw we were going through the custom I went into the bathroom and poured out the liquid I had brought with me just in case. In general if you are traveling abroad and you have anything liquid with you in your backpack it will be thrown away before you can enter. Although I can't really say if the same rule applies when it comes to cruises, ferries etc, but when traveling by airplane it does.

To my surprise all the people carrying with them something to drink and such got to go through. So I was like "Bugger!" I just threw away my drink for nothing. Hehe. I took a snapshot when getting close to the borderline, only to have a guard telling me to put my cellphone down.

When we got to the duty free shop I couldn't resist buying some flip flops they had there. Purple ones from Nike. Although I suppose I can not say 100% sure that even there I feel secure that it actually is the REAL brand. Then it was time to go to the ferry that would bring us over there.

Took a snapshot of the surroundings (Bodrum). You can see the tip of the speedboat the people next to us took over. Have to say if I will travel to Kos again, next time I am taking that one.

Welcome to Greece (Kos)!

I can't remember how many hours we got to stay to do some sightseeing, eating and shopping. But it was more than enough. We hadn't really planned what to look around for or anything, but we all got a little map on the ferry so we could see what was worth seeing when we got there. I of course also had to have a proper Greek Gyro before we left.

Above me from the panorama picture I took you can see a building on the left, the picture below is taken through one of the bar-window from it so you get a sneak peak look at what's inside. Looks beautiful doesn't it?

 

In Kos I also tried something for the first time.. Ever been to the "Fish doctor" or a "Foot spa" or like this one "Wellness Aquarium"?

They clean your feet and then feed your feet to the fishes.. Meaning they are having a feast of your dead skin. It doesn't hurt well unless you have a wound that they are picking skin off then it might feel a bit unpleasant. I think we sat there for about 30 min, people were walking by and looking in asking us how it felt etc. Even ran into a few people stopping us along the way remembering us from there which I have to say I didn't pay attention to at all - as I can sometime feel a bit awkward with getting unwanted attention.

If you are there for shopping-  imitation items, I'd suggest checking out the different market days in Turkey and taking the ferry or boat over to Bodrum and go from there. Not sure how the custom is regarding that - so maybe check out that as well before making that decision.

The road was the first thing we saw when coming out of from ferry area.

The castle (which also you could see with the Greece flag when arriving) seemed to be a museum. They charged you a couple of euro's to get in. We only popped our heads in and decided to go looking elsewhere.

Below here you see the entrance to it. 

 Before stepping over the bridge, there were one canon on each side.

 

Took a snapshot over the entrance.

              And here you get to see  two of the snapshots I took when sneaking our heads in.When thinking about it, I am sure getting some views shots of some of the down town surroundings   will be possible from here. But can't say for sure as we didn't  go in.

Here are some of the surroundings around the area starting from the bridge (both sides).

Here we found ourselves heading into the middle of town again.to the area where 

you can pick where you want to eat.

.

This place sorta pulled me in for some reason. Perhaps the cat lover within me. Hehe.

                                                           Just look at them..

             That being said, don't be surprised if you get a few cats around you when eating out.

At the end we still hadn't found one thing on the map that I was nosy about.. But I am not really sure we did find it. Hehe. We took the green train (it was suppose to be shorter) in hope to see what we had missed. But no. So I urged for one quick walk around before some more souvenir shopping was made by my side-kick and us walking slowly back to the ferry area while taking some last snapshots.

I think if I ever were to go back it most likely be for a vacation with more or less laying on the beach for a couple days, then head over to the apartment in Turkey. Doubt I'd take just a day trip for sight seeing like that again. Although I do want to try the day trip to Rhodos at some point.