It’s a very new year, but it’s already day five. I have a feeling if I don’t grab hold of it, it will slide away before I am fully “in” it. Garry’s had a difficult week, losing one friend (reason undetermined) and another having had a stroke. He has gone off to visit with the remaining old colleagues. Each time they get together, they look each other over — just in case there isn’t a “next time.” We are the older generation.
I’m having physical problems, though as far as I know, they aren’t lethal. Of course, having not yet determined the cause, I could be missing something but I think it is “old” issues going from passive passengers to active participants in my daily life. The two biggies are asthma and rheumatoid arthritis. Both of these are autoimmune diseases. I was diagnosed with both many moons ago; RA when I was 27 and asthma when I was a child. I was wheezing before I was 9.
The RA has not bothered me at all until recently when it began flaring. The asthma has gotten very bad. Since I can’t afford the inhalers I need, it went from bad to worse. Struggling to breathe combined with the damage left from all the heart surgery — and the lung problems that also come with RA — makes life difficult. And I’m anemic.
In theory, it could be leukemia or some other blood cancer, but considering I’ve already got two (maybe three) autoimmune diseases that trigger anemia, I’m voting for my old friends, RA and asthma. The worst part is knowing if my suspicions are confirmed, there’s no solution. These conditions aren’t curable. You do what you can to make them easier to live with, but they don’t go away. If they would lower the price for the inhalers I need, that would help. Talk about “dream on!”
Among other oddities of this new year is we didn’t get any free calendars. We always got them in the past. This year? Nothing. So I had to order calendars. One — a small one for the bedroom — of local birds (Audubon), two of our National Parks via National Geographic. Then I ordered some stuff Garry needs to maintain his hearing aids and finally, paid the bill for oil. Then, I made an appointment with the AARP to do our taxes. It’s free and I’m hopeless with taxes. I was never able to do them, not when I was young and not now.
However, there are some new interesting and rather exciting other things simmering which I hope you’ll eventually see on Serendipity. It will take a while to sort out the technical stuff, but Tom and Garry are going to try podcasting their former “lives in the news biz.” It should work. When you get the two of them talking, the only thing (besides light, a camera and microphone) you need is a hook to pull them off the stage.
Stay tuned.
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Categories: #News, #Photography, Anecdote, Life, Media, time
SERENDIPITY: SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
Hope you feel better soon. 💐
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yes, please let us know about upcoming podcasts…. You forgot to mention: …. and maybe a cup of tea?
Hope your health problems won’t add much discomfort. I feel blessed with the state of our health service. Although it’s very costly, it’s still pretty well working, certainly in comparison to some of the countries I lived in.
All the best!
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It will be a while before they are ready for prime time. All the technical stuff needs to be worked out and they have to decide on a format. Of course, there’s always old pals hanging out and telling their war stories, but they might need something a little bit less “casual.” Regardless, it will be a few months. After they get the technical stuff squared away, they will want to make sure they’ve got a few finished and ready to go.
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What type of inhaler do you use? I was going to look up how much they cost here but didn’t realise there were so many different kinds. It is ridiculous that such a vital piece of equipment should be so expensive.
I have watched Tom’s YouTube channel. I do enjoy his humour. His posts often make me laugh so a collaboration between him and Garry is something I’d definitely want to see. I’m sorry that Garry has had a bad week. It isn’t easy to see your friends pass away one by one.
I’m glad to see you still have the perpetual calender BTW.
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It has moved to a different wall, but it’s still in the kitchen. I don’t write on it because I like it too much to ruin it.
I think they will have some fun with it. Between the two of them, they have a LOT of stories!
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Here in the UK, oldies are being left behind due to the pressure of covid on the NHS, and a lot of people are dying because of this.
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Old people have always been left behind here. Our medical “system” is a tragedy.
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A sad state of affairs indeed…
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I’m sorry it has been a tough beginning and hope you can get a bit of medical relief soon. I think the podcasts are a wonderful idea
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I think the boys are going to have a LOT of fun with them. And they both have tons and tons of stories, many of them very funny. They also work at the same network for many years. Not in the same city, but they worked together between NY and Boston.
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Hi Marilyn, I am so sorry about your further health problems. I know all about asthma as Michael stopped breathing at 3 weeks old and nearly died. That was just the beginning. I am a little shocked the there isn’t medical assistance in the USA for elderly folk – gosh, we even have that here in South Africa. The podcasts sounds like a splendid idea.
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Our medical “system” is a travesty. It is actually BETTER than it was, so you can imagine how awful it was 15 years ago. Supposedly it is going to improve. I will believe it when I see it.
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I have read that being ill in the USA is incredibly expensive. I do think there should be medical support for the elderly, and am sad there isn’t any.
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There is medicare and believe me, that’s a HUGE improvement over the nothing they had before it. And they are making it better. Very very slowly, however. For those of us who could use the improved version yesterday, years from now is too long to wait.
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💕🤗
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