High BP, Brick and snaking

Okay then – onto my blood pressure…

I went to the doctors the other day for some repeat prescriptions, and also to have my blood pressure taken following on from my increased blood pressure at the beginning of the year. Now bear in mind that since then I have:

- Increased the amount of exercise I do (i.e. go out on my bike 3-4 times a week and also go for more walks)

- Cut out almost all junk food, i.e. sweets, chocolate, chips, fast food etc.

-Watched the level of salt intake that I have in a day and reduced this as much as possible.

- Massively increased the amount of fruit and veg I have in the day, easily having between 6-8 portions a day.

- Taken up meditation, which I probably do 4-5 times a week (although I have been a little lax of late).

As such, I had expected my blood pressure to have dropped even further, but no, instead it has increased dramatically again to (if my memory is correct) 146/109. Definitely not good.

As such, it looks like a full gone conclusion that I will be diagnosed with high blood pressure, and as such be on medication for the rest of my life. So, a bit of a bummer to say the least, especially after all my hard work to improve my health (which I will be continuing btw). However, I should have guessed that something was up, as I was getting more and more stress like headaches over the last week, as well as feeling a little run down, which is similar to how I felt the first time that my high blood pressure was identified.

Anyway, I had an ECG this morning and also a blood test – so hopefully I should get the result from these soon. In addition to this I also have to wear a blood test monitor for 1 whole day at the beginning of April

Film watched:
Brick

Dames, drugs and detectives. Modern teenage noire that doesn’t quite gel.
6.5/10

I have recently read in the Official Nintendo Magazine that for Mario Kart Wii, that snaking has effectively been removed from the series. Snaking, for those of you who don’t know, relates to a technique used to gain additional boosts during a race. Normally in Mario Kart you can gain a boost out of a curve, by power sliding around a bend whilst alternatively pressing left and right to get a boost. Now some people take this technique and apply it to straights, effectively turning left and right alternatively whilst activating boosts from power slides – or as it is better know, snaking. This gives an unfair advantage to those who have mastered the art of snaking, which was especially evident when Mario Kart was played online on the DS.

Whilst it is still possible to get a boost from power sliding on Mario Kart Wii (as well as pulling wheelies on bikes), this is based on the amount of time you hold a power slide as oppose to how quickly you can waggle left and right. As such, this has effectively eliminated snaking from the game and ensures that power slides are used as originally intended. This is quite possibly the most sensible move possible my Nintendo to ensure that races are as fair as possible.

BTW, have mentioned how excited I am (and Elliot) about Mario Kart Wii? Just over 2 weeks to go now :)