Skip to main content

I'm tired

Lately (and as I previously posted), I seem to be stuck in a rut, having very little interest in doing many of the things I used to enjoy doing. Eating, drinking wine and even golfing just don't seem to generate the same enthusiasm they once did.

Part of the reason is my concern for Edie. Her treatments seem to be taking a toll on her taste buds and appetite, leaving her less enthusiastic about eating and drinking wine. (it's no fun drinking wine by yourself.)

Then there's the uncertaintly I face, as treatment time appears to be approaching ever so rapidly for me, as well as the fact my golf game sucks!

But mostly, I'm just tired.

I'm tired of the polarization of America. I'm tired of the influence pedaling by special interests, looking out only for what is best for themselves, rather than what is best for the country.

I'm tired of being identified as living in a red or blue state, and labeled either Republican (conservative) or Democrat (liberal).

I'm an American, short and sweet, and I care about the United States, and those living in the United States, above everything and everyone else.

I'm tired of the proponents of the war in Iraq, who have never spent a day in harms way, sending thousands of young Americans to fight and die in a foreign land, and accusing opponents of the war, who have put their lives on the line, in Iraq, Viet Nam and other war arenas, as being unpatriotic and supporting terrorism.

I'm tired of living in a culture of fear, perpetuated by proponents of the war, in order to justify the continuation of a failed policy, and who by doing so, have already handed the terrorists a victory.

I'm tired of the fact that so many in this country, have so little concern for their fellow man, they think health care should be treated as a commodity distributed according to the abililty to pay, as opposed to a social service distributed according to medical need.

I'm tired of opponents of universal health care coverage, citing only extreme examples from Canada and the UK, as representative of the ills of such policies, yet at the same time neglecting to mention all the similar and even worse problems existing within the US health care system.

It's just the same arguments over and over and over again. Sometimes they dress them up in different clothing, but the message is always the same. It's a message of special interests, and I'm tired of it, and I don't need to worry about it anymore.

If most Americans approve of wasting billions of dollars, sending its youth to fight and die in a foreign country, while neglecting real problems and dangers existing at home, then I am fine with that.

If most Americans are content with the knowledge they are only one lost job away from not being able to afford health care, or one serious illness away from facing bankruptcy, then I can live with that also.

And if most Americans are satisfied with a government controlled by special interests conveying the arrogant belief, the US is the moral authority for the world, that we are right, and everyone one else in the world is wrong, then so be it.

Who should I worry about it, when I don't need to?

I'm going for a bike ride!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The results are in

And I am iron deficient, big time. [Which would account for my low hemoglobin] Test Result Ref Range IRON 30 59-158 mcg/dL TOTAL IRON BINDING CAPACITY 231 250-420 mcg/dL IRON SAT 13 20-50 % My Ferritin levels were good, but that could be because Ferritin is also an "acute phase reactant", that is sometimes increased with acute or chronic disease. Folate and B12 levels were also within the normal range. The only problem now is determining what is causing the iron deficiency, which in the case of men, is [very] rare. My oncologist has given me a Globin Fecal test to perform, and has scheduled me for a consultation with a colorectal surgeon to discuss performing a colonoscopy, which could be problematic because of my large spleen. In the mean time, I've decided to start taking an iron supplement, it's only the quantity that is causing me some consternation. I've been told by a very knowledgeable person that to overcome an iron deficiency, I need to be taking 300 mg o...

This is just one of those days

It's one of those days you just want to sit around the house and do absolutely nothing, or watch some movies you have recorded. It might even be a good day to read a book, if you were so inclined, which I am not. As you should be able to see from the view out my bedroom window, it is raining outside. The rain started last night, and hasn't let up since. I can't complain too much though, as this is the rainy season, and we do need the rain. Plus Monday's are typically my day off from exercise, so I will surprise everyone, and not complain. I just feel sorry for anyone who might be visiting from, say Argentina, like a friend of mine (fellow MCLer), who happens to be in Cambria today. He might be a little disappointed. Fortunately the rest of the week, when he will be in LA, will be nice, and the real intent of his trip was to visit his son in Tahoe, who works at one of the ski resorts, and ski, so I know he's not complaining too much either. This weather will actually...

When is enough, enough?

Today I learned, Lance Armstrong, the most drug tested athlete in the history of sport, is being accused of doping, again . This time by the US Anti Doping Agency (USADA), who claim they have collected blood samples from him in 2009 and 2010 that were “fully consistent with blood manipulation including EPO use and/or blood transfusions.” Really! What took them so long? The French have been trying to make allegations of drug doping stick for years, ever since he won his first Tour d'France, but to no avail. And now the USADA claims to have evidence to support that claim, and they've waited almost 3 years before releasing this evidence. Needless to say, I am skeptical. Then there's this from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO): Increasing the federal excise tax on cigarettes by 50 cents per pack eventually would increase Medicare and Social Security spending, slightly. Eventually? What is the CBO suggesting here? That we should encourage smoking, because if we don't, in...