I started to get some stuff ready to list last night, had dinner (scallop curry) then did that a bit more, then realized it was 11PM and I was tired as hell. I thought I might practice, but I was just too tired.
This change, back to a daytime schedule, is a pretty large re-arrangement of life. It will be worth it though.
I got up a bit before 9AM, and after sitting and resting a bit as is recommended, I checked my blood pressure with my new meter. It's still high.
What I don't get is, I've changed my diet and dropped 20lbs at least, have less headaches and not the bad ones any more, am exercising more (for instance did chin ups at St. James Park last night) and I would say my health is getting better. Does this mean my BP was *really* bad before?
Maybe I need to take a piece of graph paper and start putting little dots, red for systolic and blue for diasystolic, and start charting my measurements so I can see if there's a trend - hopefully a trend downward.
Yep here in the Empire, unless you're in the top 20% (I'm in the bottom 20%) it's all about DIY health care. I still really want to get an A1C test but I'm pretty sure that's out of reach. But I *can* get a simple blood glucose meter, the kind where you stick your finder and put a little drop of blood on the thing, and there are a couple classical tests like fasting blood glucose and also one where you test, take a standard dose of glucose solution, then test each 1/2 hour over the next 3 hours I think it is, to see how your body handles the bolus of sugar.
Just as about $50 bought me this nifty new blood pressure meter, it's about $50 for a blood glucose meter, some strips, and some little styli to prick my fingers with. And all I'm planning for is the next 10 months because after that if all goes to plan, I cease to exist on the mainland US.
My ceasing to exist here is a whole 'nother subject. I'm keeping up with telling Ken I'm sticking around until the election in November because elections are so important ... but in reality my vote won't matter. My fellow residents of the nation-state of California will vote for the right people in the big positions, and for the small, local ones, I'm likely to do as much harm as good. This is because I'm legally living in Alameda County while I actually live in Santa Clara County. I know a little about the politics of the latter while not knowing shit about the politics of the former.
However, I'm thinking I might invent a reconnaissance trip around my birthday, or even a birthday vacation hosted by my Big Island friend, as a small trip that I'm going on and totally coming back from. It will be happenstance that I just happen to have everything essential like important papers and my flutes and so on, with me. And a bit more happenstance that I decide, Fuck it, I'm staying. So-and-so has offered me a job, yadda yadda.
Thus short-circuiting what Ken has in mind, that I "mentor" someone he brings in, but I'll emphasize that I can teach someone everything they need to know in a matter of days. A week, max. Honestly, Ken taught me himself from scratch because between the time I left Ebay myself, and went to work for Ken, Ebay had changed so much that I was coming to it as a nearly complete newb. I should mention this to Ken also. Plus of course Ken has Ebay skills, although his unique rotten-ness as a photographer may not be teachable ...
I need to get my papers in order and a new passport because of what might in retrospect turn out to be the primary, smartest, reason to return to Hawaii. There is a real chance that the orange tool of fascists (he's not smart enough to understand fascist theory himself and has always been for hire to whoever pays him) will either flat-out get re-elected in 2024 or the fascists will try to pull off a coup. January 6th was probably more of a trial run than anything else.
They may not wait until January 6th since that date is "the date of the insurrection" now. And I don't see them waiting until later although that's possible. That leaves sooner, anywhere from election day to just before Christmas. Considering many Christians literally worship Trump as some kind of holy figure (as some worshiped Hitler, same) it would be appealing to the Fascists to say they're presenting the people with a new Reich in time for Christmas.
One thing for sure; they will work fast. Border shutdowns, rounding-up of political opponents, POC, Jews, etc. As I've mentioned before, Jews in Nazi territory were just about done for if they were in Eastern Europe. If they were in Western Europe they had a better chance. Best was to be somewhere where government was a bit lackadaisical compared to Germany, like Italy or Portugal or Spain. Translating this to the US, it would mean hiding out in bayou country where your family has been known for decades, hiding out in Alaska where your family has been known for decades, or hiding out in someplace like Hawaii or Guam where your family has been known for decades. I can only say this about the second to the last of these.
Still, though, right around the election a 2-week vacation in New Zealand or even Vietnam may be a good move. US elections are becoming a thing best viewed from as far away as possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment