A quick look at the websites of the New York Times, NPR, Associated Press, etc., etc. has left me thoroughly unimpressed with this morning’s news. And Facebook disappoints me, as usual. So does CNN. And damn near everything else delivered by way of the internet. I cannot imagine that any “entertainment” on television or in newspapers would be interesting, either. Even the trees outside my window and the milky-white sky are dull and unattractive. Weeds in the “rock garden” are troublesome, too. Everything in my field of vision has all the appeal of a grainy, out-of-focus photograph of a hideous, dusty moonscape.
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A pain killer that had been prescribed for me last December, paired with a gummy, got me through the night in reasonable comfort. But they had worn off before 6 this morning. Though I am still waiting for the pain killer I took an hour and a half ago to start working, this morning’s aches pale—so far—in comparison to yesterday’s. My preference, of course, is to feel no pain at all, in part because whining is terribly unbecoming of me, both physically and mentally. Picture, if you will, the whimpering—very nearly weeping—of an old man as he suffers through the unpleasantness of drug-induced arthritis. The pain may not approach a level I could legitimately label agony, but I am behaving as if it does. The morning would be much more appealing to me if my pain would suddenly disappear. Poking fun at myself might help minimize the discomfort brought about by Taxol. If that’s what it takes, I will mock myself mercilessly. Seriously, the pain is nowhere near as unpleasant as it was yesterday, but I’ll complain about it just as fiercely as if it were.
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The cost of a first-class Forever postage stamp has just increased from 68¢ to 73¢. Even with that 5¢ increase, a U.S. first-class stamp is the least expensive among those available from more than 25 other countries. Japan, Brazil, Serbia, and Russia (as of June 2023) were the only countries’ first-class stamps that cost less than U.S. stamps. I am amazed by the fact that an average #10 envelope and a single sheet of paper contents can be physically delivered from Miami, Florida to Seattle, Washington for such a low price. The current pricing structure of the U.S. Postal Service is hemorrhaging red ink, though, which makes the price of a stamp seem ridiculously low and/or the service mind-numbingly inefficient.
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That is all.
