Morning Update: 07/02/24

July 2, 2024

Hurricane Beryl became the earliest Atlantic storm to reach Category 5 status yesterday as it crossed the Caribbean Islands headed presumably for Mexico. What does that say about the rest of the summer? We’re in for a ride and all scenarios are on the table. Anything could happen. But then, when has that not been the case with this year? Uncertainty defines the first six months of 2024 and if this morning is any indication, it’s not likely to get better any time soon.

Yesterday was largely peaceful and calm. I did get the change of insurance information to my primary care doctor and made a new appointment to catch up on all the fun things I’ve missed, such as the shingles vaccine, kidney disease screening, colon cancer screening, and depression screening. Doesn’t that sound like so much fun? Such are the joys of aging; it’s not so much that your body is falling apart as it is checking to see how much of your body is falling apart at any given time.

This morning started early and that’s going to affect everything else that happens today. It was barely 4:30 this morning when Jack-Jack, the 20+-pound monster of our cat herd, decided that I needed to be up feeding him. I tried convincing him that he was wrong, but after an hour of literal head butting I decided to go ahead and get up and take a shower. All the cats were up and active already, which is never a good thing.

I took a shower, got dressed, and stepped out of the bathroom onto a wet floor. WTF? At first, I assumed that one of the cats must have thrown up because that happens with some frequency. But no, further inspection revealed that Hamilton had decided that he couldn’t wait any longer and he had distributed his urine all the way down the hallway. That had to be cleaned up before the cats could be fed, which didn’t make the cats any happier. And then I had to change socks.

I then went to make coffee only to discover that there were no spoons. There were none in the drawer, none in the sink, and none on the drying rack. That means they’re all in children’s bedrooms where they do not belong. Obviously, that did not stop me from making coffee, but it makes for an unpleasant start to everyone’s morning when Daddy has to yell about spoons in the most 2024 way possible: via text message.

As for yesterday’s SCOTUS decisions, there has been a lot to unpack. I’m concerned that the two less popular decisions are being ignored, especially when one has very strong First Amendment issues attached. I’ll be writing a lot this morning. Stay tuned.

Storms could potentially move in as early as this evening. That’s going to make for a damp holiday, which, in some ways, is probably appropriate. Given the SCOTUS rulings of the past week, our celebrations need some examination.

But that, too, is a separate post. Right now, we need more coffee. Lots and lots more coffee.

Cancer Update / Current Issues / Morning Update / News & Comment / Personal / Politics / Social Commentary

Morning Update: 07/01/24

July 1, 2024

Ready To Jump [2004 original with AI background modification]

Congratulations, we’ve made it through the first six months of the year. I don’t know about you, but it certainly feels as though it’s been more than six months. Eight or nine is more like it. Isn’t Christmas around the corner or something? Happy Canada Day to those of you who celebrate. Happy “Oh Crap It’s Monday” to the rest of you. The Supreme Court is ready to hand down at least three more disastrous decisions today. Your boss likely wants you to get five days’ worth of work done in three. The kids have less than a month left to summer vacation.

Fireworks in the neighborhood got the best of Hamilton last night. He cuddled up close and I softly reassured him that everything was okay as neighbors callously fired one noisy munition after another until well past 10:30. He’s been okay with the noises during the day so far. During the day he can see that there’s no imminent danger. When it’s dark, though, he doesn’t know that. At night, he’s 65 pounds of tense muscle ready to spring at anything that might be an attack. At the moment, it’s looking as though Wednesday night into Thursday could be cloudy with chances of rain and thunderstorms. Something tells me it would take a helluva thunderstorm to keep down the noise either night, but the dogs deal better with thunder than fireworks, so bring it on.

My insurance changed as of midnight this morning. The instant I opened Facebook this morning, right at the top of my newsfeed, was an ad reminding me that my insurance changed. For the most part, I think this is a positive thing. Transportation to doctor visits and the pharmacy is back. I shouldn’t have to worry about which meds are covered. But there’s still work to do today to inform all the doctors of the change and make sure that the chemo meds are continued going forward. We still have a little over eight months of that stuff to endure. Let’s not botch it up now.

I’ll also need to see if the new program will cover assisted living facilities. I’ll have to be careful talking about this one because if I say the wrong thing it could cause trouble. I don’t want them to think that I’m in any immediate danger, just that I need help I can’t get at home. We’ll see how that conversation goes.

At least we’re not in France. Macron was an idiot for calling snap elections right as the country is set to host the summer Olympics. You couldn’t pay me enough to be in Paris right now. Not that the situation is much better elsewhere. Bulgaria’s elections tilted toward the right as well, and Pakistan sentenced a Christian to death for saying hateful things about Muslims. 2 Algerian journalists were arrested for publishing a video showing businesswomen protesting at a government-sponsored event. The world is a nightmare.

You know I’m not a big sports nut, but when the hell did a guy named Sinner rise to the top of the tennis ranks? Headline writers are enjoying this too much. “Sinner can become No. 1.” “No. 1 Sinner wins his first grass-court final.” “Sinner looks smooth on clay.” Apparently, the dude is a favorite to win Wimbledon as well. Does that mean more tennis players should be Sinners? 🤣

If you’re somewhere in the corridor of coolness this morning between Chicago, Indy, and Detroit, enjoy the below-70 temps this AM. It’s 55 here this morning, enough that I tossed on a jacket before taking the dogs out. No, this doesn’t disprove climate change, you idiot. Warm temps will be back tomorrow, fueling the storms Wednesday night into Thursday. How do you not know how weather works? Personally, I think we’ll take a nice walk later this morning, then probably grill out for dinner since it’s so unseasonably nice.

That’s all I’ve got for the moment. If anything huge arises, I’ll let you know, but let’s hope the day stays calm.

Current Issues / News & Comment

Don’t Get Sick

January 18, 2017

Healthcare confusion is a good excuse to take care of yourself

The Short Version

After a party-line vote during a late-night session of Congress allowed for the complete dismantling of the Affordable Care Act, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, joined by Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation, released a statement yesterday saying that repealing the healthcare law without a replacement would result in 18 million more uninsured Americans. However, that assessment was made on previous legislation. No new legislation has been submitted yet and the president-elect has promised “universal coverage.” With all the confusion, the best advice, for now, is to take care of yourself and not expect anything from Congress.

A Little More Detail

Congress scared a lot of people last week when it passed a bill changing the rules for repealing the Affordable Care Act. The vote was largely along party lines, 51-48, and came in the wee hours of Thursday morning while most Americans were sound asleep. At first, because a protective clause regarding pre-existing conditions and other coverage was removed from the nonbinding resolution, many people were under the impression that coverage for pre-existing conditions had been removed. It hadn’t. All the resolution did was make it easier for Congress to repeal existing healthcare legislation by allowing the Senate to pass such a bill with a simple majority rather than the 60 votes currently required.

Still, mention healthcare and one suddenly has the attention of millions of Americans who would not have any insurance coverage without the Affordable Care Act. So, the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation took a look at the last bill in which Congress attempted to repeal the Affordable Care Act and calculated the cost. Their determination was that should Congress follow a similar pattern and repeal the law without any replacement, insurance costs would soar and 18 million people who currently have coverage would lose it within the first year. Were no replacement offered, the number of uninsured Americans would swell to 56 million by 2026. One has to admit those are pretty scary numbers.

However, there is currently no serious bill before Congress that would gut the Affordable Care Act. At this point, the House of Representatives is still arguing over smaller, more petty details and the Senate is fully consumed in hearings for Cabinet appointees. Any omnibus bill that would completely repeal the Affordable Care Act with any hope of receiving the president’s signature is still several months away.

Add to that the promise of GOP leaders to retain the pre-existing condition coverage and the president-elect’s promise for universal coverage and the waters get even more muddy. If the incoming president is going to hold out for a replacement plan that covers everyone, then Congress has to dramatically alter its approach away from anything they proposed last year. This could potentially set the stage for disagreement between the president and congressional leaders, further delaying any kind of repeal and replace legislation.

At this point, there is absolutely no certainty of any kind as to how Congress might actually handle changes to the healthcare laws. The confusion is frustrating and leaves millions of Americans in limbo regarding long-term healthcare.

Time To Self-Medicate

Given all the confusion and uncertainty regarding the healthcare laws, doctors are taking a more cautious approach and advising patients to maintain current medication and to take more responsibility for their personal health where it is reasonable to do so. Here are some of the recommendations being offered:

See your physician for a regular checkup, making sure prescriptions and treatment plans are up-to-date.
Make sure all scheduled vaccinations are up-to-date.
Maintain a healthy diet that is appropriate to both your age and physical needs. Not everyone should eat the same things.
Stay active with an appropriate exercise plan that does not present a high level of risk.
Avoid high-risk activities where possible. Now is not the time to undertake something that might leave one in need of long-term healthcare.
Stay away from unproven forms of “alternative” medicines that could complicate healthcare.
Those in high-risk categories, such as the very young and very old, should avoid contact with highly infectious environments and limit some public activities during high-risk seasons.

In short: don’t get sick. There is no promise that anyone will be covered for any form of healthcare in the future, regardless of what Congress and the president-elect might say. Taking responsibility for your own healthcare and that of your children is something we all should be doing anyway. It probably doesn’t hurt to start a savings account to use in the event of a medical catastrophe, such as a car accident or a rabid squirrel attack if you can afford to do so.

We’ve not lost everything yet, but to the degree we can prepare for the worst we are better off.

PotD / Social Commentary

10 Reasons You Are Going To DIE!

May 26, 2015

When Dreams Die (2010)

“It is said that mourning, by its gradual labour, slowly erases pain; I could not, I cannot believe this; because for me, Time eliminates the emotion of loss (I do not weep), that is all. For the rest, everything has remained motionless. For what I have lost is not a Figure (the Mother), but a being; and not a being, but a quality (a soul): not the indispensable, but the irreplaceable.” ― Roland Barthes, Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]You are not safe. You are going to die. If you don’t believe me, just check any of the clickbait lists on social media expounding upon the many ways in which that just might happen. Everything from e-cigs to orange juice has one problem or another if you ask the right person. The internet has made it possible for bad science, or often no science, to have a voice it really shouldn’t have and the result is fear mongering over issues that really shouldn’t exist. So, here’s a list of all the things that really, seriously, could result in your death.

There’s Someone In Your Life Who Needs The Insurance Money

Sure, you like to think that everyone loves you. Your spouse adores the ground on which you walk. Your parents think you do no wrong. Your siblings aren’t the least be jealous. Your co-workers are proud of your accomplishments. Right. Go ahead and think that. In reality, most murder victims are killed by someone they know, often a family member. The larger your insurance policy, the greater the risk. Be careful with that OJ this morning.

You’re Starving While Searching For Non-GMO Food

I’m still not sure how genetically modified food suddenly went from being the god-send that would end hunger around the planet to the horrible poison that is going to kill us all. There isn’t a substantial amount real science to back up all the fear mongering and political arm-twisting on the subject. Fact is, strawberries as we know and enjoy them wouldn’t even exist without some genetic modification. Same is true for a number of standard foods, which makes it absolutely laughable when one sees them in the organic section of the produce aisle. As the world becomes less hospitable to traditional farming, the choices are likely to be GMO or die. Your call.

When The Polar Ice Cap Melts, You’ll Drown

I recently heard one climate-change denier base his entire argument on the fact that property he owns in Key West isn’t yet under water. The key word there, pardon the pun, is yet. Climate change wasn’t an argument when I was in elementary school. Over 40 years ago we were being taught that as greenhouse gasses increased, the earth’s temperature would warm and the oceans would inevitably rise, eventually dramatically reshaping the continents as we know them now. What has changed is the timetable. Back then, most scientists were estimating that rise would take effect somewhere in the 22nd century. Now, most are saying it could happen in this one. I hope you know how to dog paddle.

You Drive Like A Moron

I no longer drive. What being a passenger the past few years has taught me is that those of you who do drive are nuts. Every day, we encounter so many near-misses that I’m amazed we’re not burying more drivers. The fact that people have actually become proficient at dodging each other should tell us just how bad our driving has become. Driving rules really aren’t that difficult. Stay in your lane. Use your damn turn signal. Slow the fuck down already! Keep your eyes on the road, not your phone. Perhaps most important, though, is that you actually plan your trip so you know where you’re going and know when you need to leave. Traffic is going to suck. Plan on it and maybe you won’t be the reason everyone else is late for work.

The Elevator Cable Broke

I have a habit when I get on elevators. I look for the weight limit and then check the people who are around me. If it appears we might be pushing that weight limit, I get off the damn elevator. I’m not taking that risk. Yes, I know modern elevators have emergency braking systems in case the cable breaks. I don’t trust them. Why? Americans are obese and one place where that creates a real strain is on elevator cables lifting our fat asses from the first floor to the second because we get winded taking the stairs. Breaking cables are inevitable. Go ahead and keep eating like a pig if you must. Just be careful going to your doctor. The cardiac specialist is on the fourteenth floor.

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You Share Needles

Southern Indiana has recently experienced a dramatic increase in HIV/AIDS cases due to one specific problem: needle sharing. Now, while a lot of the political rhetoric centers around the state cutting funding for public health sources, the reality is that if you’re sharing needles you’re just asking to die. Period. I’ll admit that I don’t really understand what drives a person to share needles in the first place; that’s not an addiction that has ever been remotely tempting. I do, however, realize that the problem is ultimately, politics aside, one of your own doing. So, let’s get this straight: if you share needles, you’re going to die and it’s not going to be pretty.

You Weren’t Immunized

Here’s another piece of bad science that has just gotten totally out of control. A recent measles outbreak is evidence of just how stupid some people can be when it comes to the health of their own children. Measles. Really. We had that disease all but licked until a few idiots decided to stop immunizing their kids. Next think you know, children everywhere, especially those who already had some form of immune deficiency, are breaking out with one of the most easily eradicated and totally unnecessary diseases possible. There is no real science behind anti-vaxing, just paranoid stupidity and the end results are lethal. Not immunizing your children is signing their death warrant. The risk is just that real. Stupid.

You Left The Oven On

Haven’t we all been there? We’re driving down the road, 30 minutes or so from home, when we suddenly wonder whether we actually remembered to turn off the oven. Okay, so millennials don’t have this problem because they don’t know how to cook, but older generations understand. There’s always that chance that you left on the oven, which means there could be gas building up inside your own right now, creating an inevitable powder keg. All it needs is the sudden rush of oxygen you’ll make available when you open the door, and boom! You, your house, and possibly even your neighbor’s houses are all going up in smoke. You know it could happen. You’re never really sure. Maybe you should turn around and check now.

Elves

I’m not kidding. They’re out there. We’re not talking about the little guys that help Santa deliver presents on Christmas Eve, either. Elves are evil, mean, and waiting to sabotage your every move, your every plan. You never see the little suckers until it’s too late. They tampered with your break lines. They put sleeping powder in the pilot’s coffee. Elves stretch electrical cords across the floor and then make them invisible until you’ve tripped over one. The water on the floor that cause you to slip and fall? Elves. I tell you, man, their everywhere and they’re out to get you. I swear it.

The Bible Tells Me So

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. Hebrews 9:27 KJV

Sorry, I’m not making this one up. It’s really there. There’s no getting around it. Nothing you do is going to save your ass. You’re done for you’re going to die. The Bible says so. You’re toast.

Are you scared yet? Are you ready to crawl in a hole and hide? Can we get real for a moment? Sure, we’re all going to die, sooner or later, one way or another. I frequently tell the story of my Uncle Fred who died from smoking two and a half packs of cigarettes a day. He was 96. He didn’t stop smoking until he was 94. How, where and when one dies matters much less than how one lives. You have one life. Are you going to spend it worrying about what might kill you or are you going to spend your life actually living? You don’t have to listen to all the doomsayers on the Internet. You’ll probably live longer if you spend less time on the Internet completely. So go ahead. Defy death. Live. [/one_half_last]