Finally, we have internet service back! It’s been a long week without it and we are thankful that I can communicate with everyone in a timely manner once again. It has not been any great delight not being able to read the news, check on friends, or use necessary apps like MyChart and any form of mobile banking. I accidentally double-tipped one of my Lyft drivers on Monday because I couldn’t see whether the first tip had gone through or not! I hate to think what chaos would have descended if we had a smart home!
Good news and bad news on the health front. My white blood cell count is 6.6, which is right smack in the middle of the healthy range. We still have to take chemo meds until next March, but as long as there are no hiccups between now and then, we shouldn’t need any additional treatment afterward. The persistent fatigue may be a permanent feature, though. On the downside, my A1c is 11.7! If you understand how the pancreas works with insulin, you know that any over 10 means it has pretty much thrown up its hands and gone home. This is critical. Metformin, which I’ve taken for six years, now makes me terribly sick, so that’s no longer an option. Most other diabetic meds don’t work if your A1c is over 10. We’ve one med left to try, but goddammit, the pharmacy that the insurance company said to use won’t take my insurance. So, I still don’t have the meds. The batteries went out on my glucose meter as well, so I have to get those replaced. If this med doesn’t work, the next step is insulin shots.
Tipper graduated from middle school last Friday. Her biggest joy was not seeing most of her classmates again. Ever. Her boyfriend, Gio, is one of only two other people going to the same high school as she is next fall, so for the majority of her classmates this was a final farewell. No sad eyes there. There were some tears among some favorite teachers. One gave her flowers, another a sweet card. What was perhaps telling, though, is that the one teacher who had been with at the school all nine years, teaching them in kindergarten and first grade and then eventually moving into administration, is leaving education entirely. She said she’s not sure what direction she’s going to go, but it’s definitely not education. Sadly, there are a lot of teachers making the same decision.
We’re all making an effort to get in more exercise this summer. Kat, G, and I went on what was supposed to be a three-mile hike on Sunday, and for G it was exactly that. He ran on ahead of us and “parkoured” his way around the muddy and swampy areas. Neither Kat nor I are exactly the parkour types, so we attempted to go around the muddy areas and that’s when we got lost. We thought for certain that the trail had to be “right up there,” but it never was. We ended up having to backtrack and still go through the mud. I also had a problem with some fallen trees. One was just too high, caught the toe of my boot, and sent me face-first to the ground. I’m tempted to say, “See, this is what happens when you try to exercise out in nature. Nature fights back.”
Since Monday was consumed with doctor visits, there was no additional walking. Yesterday, however, when I discovered that the batteries on my glucose meter were dead, Tipper and I walked the mile in each direction to the nearest convenience store looking for replacements. Had we come straight home, that would have been two miles, right? But Tipper wanted to show me a place on the bus route where a tree had fallen on a house. That added an extra mile. Within the 90 minutes that we were gone, the outdoor temperature went from 69 to 82 with plenty of humidity. Even with drinks in hand, we were both exhausted by the time we got home. We’ll make a slightly longer walk to a Dollar General this morning, so that will be another 2.5 miles. It’s cloudy and cooler today, but the humidity is still daunting.
I guess storms kinda moved through the area last night. They had pretty much run out of steam by the time they got here. It was a lot of wind and thunder but very little rain. There remains a limited chance of isolated showers this afternoon, perhaps more on Friday, making a mess of Carb Day at the track. Of course, what everyone is watching is a line of storms that could arrive Sunday afternoon, washing out the race. The track has uncanny luck about that sort of thing, though, so the best bet is that enough of the race gets in for it to be counted as complete.
There are a number of issues I need to catch up on this morning. Be on the lookout for additional posts later today. There are some people out there who are doing us all dirty, and I’m guessing the global IQ has probably fallen below 70 based on the way our politicians are behaving.
Thank you for hanging in there with us!
Morning Update: 05/14/24
There really is nothing to share about yesterday. The kids went to school. Kat went to work. I went back to bed and stayed there. The most exciting part of the day was the delivery of more cat litter. Most Mondays seem to be this way anymore, especially if we’ve done anything outside the house on Sunday. My body doesn’t seem interested in being active two days in a row. The dogs don’t seem interested in being active on Mondays, either.
It was another violent weekend in Indy and I’m concerned that violence will only increase as it gets warmer. Consider, here are just a few of the local headlines I’m looking at this morning:
There are times I feel as though we’re living in a bad episode of some police procedural television show. Gunning down victims in the street, calling SWAT to a dispute between neighbors, and someone shot to death while sitting in their pickup? Who the fuck does that in real life? Are these cases of, “Oh, I just happen to have this gun handy so I think I’ll use it?” Or is it more “I don’t have any idea how to resolve this conflict so I’m just gonna shoot somebody?” Maybe it’s a case of “I don’t feel that I have any control over the circumstances in my life, so I’m going to make sure someone pays attention to me.”
Overall, nationwide, violent crime has decreased since 2020. Cities significantly larger than Indy have seen violent crime plunge significantly. In cities such as Indy where violence continues to increase, the causes seem to come down to three significant issues:
We can look at these issues because we have data showing the relationship of cause/effect. What we don’t look at, though, is who is behind those causes. Numbers don’t solve problems, people do. If economics is a primary issue in increasing violence, the question needs to be WHO is responsible for that? I can tell you now it’s not a politician. Instead, look at the head of major corporations and retailers in a city. Where are they located? Who are they hiring? How much are they paying? Who is being left out? Start addressing these problems and the economics issue goes away.
The same can be said for education. Why are teachers quitting in frustration? Why are some schools limited in how they can teach while others get to explore new and innovative methods? Why the hell are people with absolutely zero experience in a classroom telling masters-level educators how to teach? Why are students in certain economic zones not getting all the opportunities as students from other areas of town? All these things (and a lot more) factor into failing schools, high drop-out rates, and a large sense of desperation among those who don’t manage to thrive within the system.
Why are some cities unable to recruit new officers? I don’t have information to argue that one. Theoretically, out-of-date policing procedures, low pay, lack of basic safety programs, and insufficient training are what gets called out first. That doesn’t mean those are the only problems. I’m sure there are some who will never consider police work because of its traditional stance against people of color. Complaints of abuse within the ranks are part of what’s keeping more women from both police forces and the military. At the baseline, though, the problems are internal and we have to hold the leaders of those departments responsible for making the necessary changes to both methods and culture.
Brandon’s taking Kat to the rifle range today for her birthday. Kat’s taking her AR15 out for the first time. Her dad gave her the gun when she graduated boot camp and it’s never been fired. She never felt that there was any need or reason to do so. We haven’t even had any ammo for it. But now? I’m glad they’re going. I’m glad she’ll have a response in case things go awry in the neighborhood, and there’s no good reason to think they won’t.
We, you and I, created these problems because we’d rather rally around shallow slogans with no real meaning or understanding the issues, because we try holding politicians responsible for problems that are caused elsewhere, and because, more than anything, all we do is complain rather than become involved in a solution. We are responsible for the society we’ve created. This didn’t happen out of the blue. Aliens are not responsible for this mess. You are. I am. And we’re the only ones who can fix it.
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