There are those who ask if the need for a blood pressure machine started here and others who suggest the genesis comes from a different place altogether.
Instead of providing you with unnecessary detail and copious amounts of background I’ll provide you with the key details.
This past January the tech who took my blood pressure looked at me with great concern and said it was way too high to pass me.
I smiled, said I was under significant stress and asked for five minutes to catch my breath.
She said ok and when she retested me said I dropped around 30 points and added, “I am not a doctor but you’re still high so you might want to talk to your primary care physician about it.”
I nodded and didn’t make an appointment for a physical until the one I completed last week.
My BP was/is still too high so the doc asked a few questions and I repeated that there is and has been significant stress.
“The good news is I believe it is lower than it was in January.”
He told me to get a BP machine and to start testing so that when I come back for my follow up appointment we can try to determine if this is a real issue or not.
Now we wait for Jeff Bezos to send me the latest and greatest model.
We’re The Same Age
The doc ordered other tests and told me we are the same age and that he can appreciate some of my concerns.
I shared the quote above and asked how it got to be late so soon.
He laughed and we compared notes about how last week we were always the youngest around and now we are grizzled veterans who have put more than a few years into the game.
“Doc, do you look at pictures on Facebook and think about how old your friends look now? Sometimes I do and then I realize they probably say the same thing about me.”
We both laughed and then he told me to be thankful I have almost no gray hair. It is true and though some of you will say I have little hair on my head I’ll remind you the sides, and back are full.
I shave them because I like the sleep-and-wear model. It saves time in the morning and I never worry about hat hair or riding in convertibles.
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There is a particularly strange moment when the doc is reviewing tests, discussing labs and talking about things that I know are more appropriate for a much older man.
While some people claim I am middle age I know that it is not necessarily true as I am considering living until I am 130 in which case I still have a chunk of years left in me.
Given this idea of living to a 130 it is critical to be in decent health so I am focused on trying to make that happen because it would suck to be 130 and in poor health.
So I bought the machine, called two docs to schedule appointments and hit the weights at the gym with extra vigor.
The Thoughtless and Gutless
This particular song and video hit far too close to home now because we are dealing with large numbers of the thoughtless and gutless.
Far too many people have adopted minion, groupie and or drone status and refuse to demand accountability from the mentally ill man in the White House and his sycophantic followers.
The willingness to let him attack the media and claim that he is the sole arbiter of truth isn’t just disturbing, it is dangerous.
This tribalism doesn’t serve anyone well and if we are going to manage to get through this time with less damage than we have already seen and see coming it is going to require a marshaling of efforts and resources.
Maybe I ought to tell the doc that my concern about the demented, delusional and deranged president and his miserable followers is part of why my BP is slightly elevated.
Still I have hope we’ll see more people wake up including the gutless fools within his own party that thus far have enabled him.
Have you noticed a theme in these posts?
I am a fighter by nature and trade.
Fists, pens, computers, typewriters, crutches, water balloons, pillows and or whatever else is useful and appropriate.
Keep on Rolling
The music plays and I remember it is not an ordinary Sunday night.
I don’t have to rap things up to get ready for a new week. I can grab a Shiner and keep listening to music or go do some reading.
And though I am tempted to write with reckless abandon and see what I can come up with with I think I just might wrap this up and save something for later.
Never hurts to leave them wanting more, ya know.
So until we see each other here or elsewhere I bid you adieu.
