The P.A. told me to step on the scale, wrote down the numbers and had me follow her to an examination room.
“Take a seat Mr. Wilner and roll up your sleeve so I can take your blood pressure.”
I nodded my head and asked for a moment.
“I am fired up now, let me take a couple of breaths before we do this.”
She did and then I insisted on doing it again because I knew if I had an extra moment I could drop it further.
“You’re very calm for someone who says they are fired up.”
Shrugged my shoulders and grumbled something about her not knowing me well.
Doc came in and reviewed my numbers.
“You’re moving in the right direction but I am very concerned about a couple of these. You’re over fifty and some of these are problematic.”
“You remember we are the same age right?”
“I do.”
“This is going to go one of two ways. I am either going to be around for a very long time or we’re all going to be surprised when I check out early.”
There is a pause, followed the start of Free Bird.
If I leave here tomorrow
Would you still remember me?
For I must be traveling on now
‘Cause there’s too many places I’ve got to see
The offer to try drinking my salty coffee was turned down but I didn’t expect it to be accepted and not because I am used to rejection.
It was more of an offhand remark made to a tea drinker and not something I would say if I was really engaged in trying to get them to succumb to the liquid gold we know as coffee.
I don’t have anything against tea and drink it frequently, primarily a very strong peppermint that sometimes serves as a useful tonic for calming nerves.
Anyhoo, I almost asked the doc if I was the only one hearing music but got distracted by his review of the numbers and the questions he asked.
It was a moment of contradiction as I did my best impression of Marcel Marceau imitating a statue of a man doing a jig.
Sit with that for a moment and try to determine if I am saying I was celebrating or not.
If you are among those who read things twice don’t bother reading that because if you are really engaged you’ll want specific details that you won’t find there.
And if you’re not it won’t matter so let me save you time and say I did one of those “Yay/fuck” things.
You know you get excited about something good and then temper it because something less good has been shared.
Well that was me and while I focus on the good stuff I don’t forget the bad because it requires some focus so that it doesn’t go completely sideways.
It is a challenge sometimes because there is so much going on it can feel overwhelming.
There has been so much going on during the past few years it is hard to remember a time when it didn’t feel like I was being attacked by 35 giants, a wolf and a rabid honey badger.
It is not easy fighting them off and there have been times when I thought about just letting go except I am not built like that.
Remember I was the dumb kid who sometimes got so angry I banged my head on the ground which just made me angrier and scream louder.
Sadly that is true, not a tale that will make you think I was born for greatness unless that involved MMA fighting which of course wasn’t something that existed 52 years ago.
Fortunately I have grown and matured, or maybe just grown. I’ll let you choose.
****
“Now that I have laid things out why don’t you share your thoughts.”
I looked at the doc and told him the end goal is simple, always be healthy enough to take care of myself.
He nodded his head and we spoke some more.
Someone confronted me earlier and asked several pointed questions to which I responded, “do not ask questions you are not prepared to have answered.”
Won’t tell you more than that or give you insight you don’t need, deserve or require.
Spent chunks of time trying to wake up the zombies who run the schools and think pandering to a small minority of loudmouths is good policy.
Been accused of ignorance, fearmongering and all sorts of other stuff.
Told one admin I won’t be pacified or patronized into going away.
There are many legal ways to apply pressure to effect change and one person cannot make them all work by themselves.
But a group can.
****
Got my second Shingles shot today and am hoping it is not as rough an experience as the first one was.
That wasn’t as bad as my second shot of Moderna but it wasn’t great. Surprised me a bit but temporary discomfort for extended benefits seems like a good deal to me.
