3/11/24

 Monday, March 11, 2024

In bed at 10, awake on the LZB before 3, and let Lilly out.  30°, sunny morning then clouding up, high of 68!  The wind is WSW at 8 mph, 4-15/25 with a windy afternoon & evening.  Sunrise at 7:09, sunset at 6:54, 11+44.  Solar noon at 1:01, altitude 44°, 20° higher than at the winter solstice.

Treadmill; pain.  I was bothered by shoulder pain during the night and a bit of wrist pain.  I took 2 Tylenol 8-Hour tabs at 3 a.m.  It's discouraging that the cortisone injection provided hardly any pain relief and the PT stretches don't seem to help either.  I think the Tylenol does help.  I looked back in this journal to see when my problem with nightly pain and sleeplessness started and it looks like it was around the second week of January, 2 months ago.  Before that, a decent night's sleep for me was 7 hours.  Now such a night is rare.  The combination of bladder pain, back pain, shoulder pain, and wrist pain combined with frequent pit stops (growing to 5 or 6 a night) contribute to a lack of restful sleep most nights and a need to nap during most days.   It's been almost a week now since the surgery on my bladder which, so far at least, has stopped the bladder & pelvic floor muscle painful spasms, the main problem now being the shoulder pain.  On the other hand, my shoulder has been painful all day.

I'm grateful that the days are getting longer and the sun is higher in the sky each day.  We are at the time in celestial movements when the morning sun shines directly through the TV room window onto Geri's preferred spot on the sofa.   

Iowa's Caitlin Clark led her team to the Big Ten women's basketball championship yesterday.  I watched the second half of the game against a very talented Nebraska team that had knocked off Ohio State to get to the finals.  The Iowa-Nebraska game went into overtime before Iowa secured the win.  Point guard Caitlin Clark is a pleasure to watch.  She's an extraordinary shooter who broke "Pistol Pete" Maravich's previous NCAA record for most points scored in a career, but she's also a great team player.  Her passing and assists are phenomenal.  I'm looking forward to the women's NCAA Tournament. 

 Selection Sunday: 8 p.m. ET Sunday, March 17 on ESPN

First Four: March 20-21

First round: March 22-23

Second round: March 24-25

Sweet 16: March 29-30

Elite Eight: March 31-April 1

Final Four: Friday, April 5 at 7:30 and 9 p.m. ET on ESPN

NCAA championship game: Sunday, April 7 at 3 p.m. ET on ABC

Random thoughts about our species and its gods.  Today is the start of Islam's Ramadan, the day after the Oscar Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, and 3 days after the horrendous highway collision in Wisconsin's Clark County that killed 7 members of a Virginia Amish community, their driver, and the driver of the semi that collided with their van.  We watched the last part of the Oscar program with its Hollywood glitterati in their tuxedos and fabulous gowns.  I saw a photo yesterday of an orderly line of Muslim men standing outdoors in Jerusalem while praying and a story in JSOnline about the Amish who died in the highway collision.   The experiences had me wondering this morning about the different conceptions of God among the Oscar celebrants and their millions of viewers, the supplicating Muslims anticipating Ramadan, and the Amish.   Just wondering how God or the various gods are perceived in America's popular, movie-watching culture, Middle Eastern Muslim culture, and the Amish culture.  Are differing perceptions simply a reflection of Deus absconditus and Deo incognito, God hidden and God unknown?  What am I to make of this?  I should add into the sphere of consideration the God of America's Christian Nationalists, the MAGA evangelicals.   What does their god look like and require of them compared to what the Amish see in their god and what he requires of them?  Why does a God who is "all Good and all Loving" disguise Himself in so many different forms for his creatures?  And in ways that create so much trouble, so much suffering here on Earth?

Leg ulcer?  I talked with Kim, Dr. Chat's nurse about the situation on my legs.  She had me send photos to her via Secure Messaging and showed them to one of the Gold Clinic docs, who said to just keep an eye on it and call if there's a concerning change.

Talk with the Urology Clinic nurse about the lack of urologist and anesthesiologist notes from the fulguration.  I have to ask Medical Records for them.  They are not normally sited on myhealthevet.gov.

Feeling half-dead all day.  Daylight saving time?  Not enough sleep?

Record high temperature today.  Last year we had a high of 34° with about 8 to 10 inches of snow on the ground.  Tom and Sue were visiting with Jackson.  Tonight they are sleeping in their new home outside Charlotte, N.C., tomorrow the rest of their furniture arrives.

Big stink in the UK over an altered photo of Kate and the kids.  The palace's explanation doesn't pass the smell test.

Judaism, Human Values, and the Jewish State by Yeshayahu Leibowitz arrived in today's mail.  I've given it a quick browse and think I will learn much from Professor Leibowitz.  I paid $34 plus shipping for this used hardback copy of the book but it's $44 on Amazon for a new paperback.  It was published in 1992 as a collection from Leibowitz's earlier writings.