5/31/23

 Wednesday, May 31, 2023

"Prep Day" 😰

In bed at about 9:30, awake at 2:20 unable to sleep, up at 2:45, let Lilly out with a concern about coyotes; none in sight, 59℉, high of 76℉, thunderstorms possible between 6 and 8 a..m., mostly sunny thereafter, wind SSE at 3 mph, 1 to 11 mph during the day, gusts up to 20 mph.  Sunrise at 5:15, sunset at 8:24. 15+8.

Debt Limit Bill Clears Rules Committee by one vote.  Maverick Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a libertarian gun-nut engineer from northern Kentucky cast the deciding vote.  What if Mr. Massie had pulled a 'Shiv' Roy and changed his mind at the last minute?  Hundreds of billions of dollars in retirement savings lost across the country?  

Catholic Church in California grapples with over 3,000 lawsuits alleging abuse.  From this morning's WaPo: "At least a third of the 12 Roman Catholic dioceses in California have either filed for bankruptcy or are contemplating doing so to deal with an influx of lawsuits filed by survivors of childhood sexual abuse after a state law opened a three-year window in which cases were exempted from age limits More than 3,000 lawsuits have been filed against the Catholic Church in California under a 2019 state law that also extended the statute of limitations to allow all alleged victims of sexual abuse to sue up to the age of 40. . . The Diocese of Santa Rosa, which is facing more than 200 lawsuits, filed for bankruptcy in mid-March. In its bankruptcy petition, it claimed assets valued between $10 million and $50 million. It estimated its liabilities in the same dollar range."

It was 20 years ago in March 2003 that I traveled to Santa Rosa in Sonoma County to interview for the position of Communications Director for the diocese.  The diocese was still rocked by scandal arising from the behavior of former bishop G. Patrick Zieman and his homosexual lover whom the bisshop consecrated first as a deacon and then as a priest.  I was still serving as executive director of The House of Peace but I had submitted my resignation and was waiting for the Capuchins to appoint a new director.  There were two candidates for the Santa Rosa position and I was tempted to pursue it both because of the challenge of the job and because of the location in California's beautiful wine country and northern California.  Nonetheless I withdrew after a couple days of interviewing for reasons that weren't entirely clear to me at the time and still are not.  Was it because I wasn't prepared to pull up stakes and transplant us to a locale 2,000 miles from our Midwestern roots (with extraordinarily high housing costs)?  Was it the profound nastiness of the sex and financial scandal hanging over the diocese?  Was it because the people I interviewed with did not themselves seem to be happy diocesan employees?  Was the whole situation just too risky?  Was it because I had some fear of rejection, of not being selected for the post?  In any event, I took myself out of contention.  While I was out there interviewing, the organization BishopAccountability.org published a lengthy narrative of the sordid history of the diocese's scandal under the title "Bishop Bad Boy" which is available online.  Really nasty stuff and here we are 20 years later and again the diocese is in trouble and in the news.  Maybe it was providential that I withdrew, my guardian angel taking care of me.😇

Back to bed around 6 and up again at 7:10 with competing strains of tinnitus ringing in my head, one soft and rhythmic, the other not.

State Farm to stop insuring California homes.  Insurance crises also in eastern Kentucky (floods), Florida (storms), and Louisiana (storms).  I'm wondering how all those Republicans in eastern Kentucky, Florida, and Louisiana are feeling about climate change now.

Thoughts before the 'double dip.'  I go in and out of nervousness about these procedures.  I'll be 82 this summer.  I'm due for some serious problem(s) simply because of my age, but also lifestyle, diet, sedentariness, etc.  I've somehow managed to go 3 years without contracting covid.  How is that possible?  My Dad had colon cancer around age 60.  I've had polyps in my colon in the past.  I've had Barrett's Esophagus for decades, precancerous cellular changes in the throat from acid reflux.  I'm recalling some of what Mike H. went through with his esophagus and remembering my trips to Convent Hill to visit Roland, to grind his pills in the pill grinder, mix the powder with Ensure, and feed him through his G-tube.  But mainly, I've been fortunate and I'm in the zone - so I'm more than a little nervous about tomorrow.  Not discombobulated precisely, but not entirely combobulated either.😐  I took my 4 little blue Dulcolax pills at 2 as directed, wondering again why it is I haven't received a telephone call from a GI nurse.  The instructions I received with the prep medications said I would be called 2 days before the procedures but no call.  I'm waiting to start drinking the prep solution at 5 and hoping I haven't overdone the liquid intake today.  The written instructions said 'drink plenty of liquids today; it will help flush your colon.'  I've had one cup of coffee, 2 or 3 cups of herbal tea, 1 diet Coke, and  2 or 3 Vernor's ginger ales and I'm already feeling a bit bloated.  Keeping fingers crossed & signing off.