I feel somewhat better today but not sufficiently so—thus far—to want to go for a drive. That’s fine, because I do not plan to go for a drive. I’ve been sleeping for the better part of the last almost six days and am happy to continue that pattern—at least the part that does not involve extreme forms of discomfort. And it shall continue, at least for today.
I opted to call my oncologist’s office yesterday, in the hope that they would agree that a blood test scheduled for yesterday could be delayed. They agreed. I will go in tomorrow. Mi novia also arranged to see a urologist on Wednesday. Today, she is scheduled to see her cardiologist for a long-scheduled visit; whether she decides to go is still to be determined. I feel somewhat better than I did yesterday, thanks to finally being able to eat a little and keep it down. Mi novia had enough energy to make an online “rush” order of grocery items that I might find palatable and tolerable among which are: bananas, canned soup, potatoes, and zucchini. Boiled new potatoes and chopped zucchini in chicken soup, I hope, will make a meal I can tolerate. Even though the “rush,” 3-hour delivery cost an extra $5, I am grateful it was possible and available. Neither of us felt well enough to try to maneuver through the remaining snow and ice to go shopping. I appreciate the delivery people who were willing and able to cope with whatever conditions faced them. Their willingness, I suspect, was fueled both by altruism and economic necessity. Capitalism enables people like me to pay for help; and it forces people like those delivery drivers to work to cover the cost of basic needs—even when that work exposes them to potentially dangerous circumstances. These are untested assumptions, of course, but I would be willing to place a bet that they are sound.
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An article that addressed issues related to capitalism, carried by NPR online, caught my attention this morning. The piece discussed, among other things, an article by a University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire economist (Thomas Kemp), entitled “Shred Central: Estimating the user benefits associated with large public skateparks.” It also addressed a presentation he made, entitled, “The Skateboarding Ethic and the Spirit of Anti-Capitalism.” I am not, nor have I ever been, a skateboarder, but the article grabbed my attention with its economic twist. Another of those things that, too late in life, piqued my interest: economics. But I’m too tired, now, to continue and let that interest run free. Now, I need to make something I might be able to eat.
