2/9/2026

 Monday, February 9, 2026

1950  MULS alum Joseph McCarthy charged that the State Department was infested with 205 communists

1964 First appearance of the Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show"

1987 Former US national security adviser Robert McFarlane attempted suicide by overdosing on Valium hours before his scheduled testimony before the panel investigating the illegal arms-for-hostages "Iran-Contra" affair

2021  Second impeachment trial of President Donald Trump began

In bed at 9, up at 5:25.  23/16/33/23.

Morning meds at  a.m.

Another nasty fall.  I took the trash cart out from the garage to the curb last night around 8, and had another nasty fall on the driveway.  I had taken my iPhone with me in case of a fall, and tried to use it to call Geri to contact the North Shore Fire Department EMTs, but my Apple Watch fall detector worked.  It detected my longitudinal/latitudinal location and called NSFD, which talked to me over my watch and had EMTs on scene within minutes.  I also had a pocket flashlight with me and used it to shine on the trash cart in front of me, which caught the attention of a couple driving by in a pickup.  They stopped to help, and the man stayed with me while the woman went to notify Geri in the house.  Geri came out just as the EMTs arrived to hoist me up, walk me into the house, and 'take my vitals.'  I was on the cold ground for maybe 10 minutes, thankful that I had brought my iPhone with me, thankful that my Apple Watch fall detector worked, thankful to the EMTs and the couple that stopped to help me, and thankful for Geri for coming out to tend me.  I was also grateful that I had my winter jacket on and my wool beret because the temperature was around 20° and the ground I was lying on was no warmer.

I landed hard on my right knee, which bled a little from an abrasion and was a little painful and already very swollen by the time I got into the house.  I may have bumped my head when I hit the ground, but, if I did, it wasn't serious.  During the night and this morning, it's been my hands, and specifically my thumb joints and muscles, that were very painful, either from gripping and being gripped by the hands of the EMTs as they pulled me up from the ground, or maybe because I jammed them on the way down.

I don't think I slipped on the snow or ice on the driveway, but rather because I lost my balance when I was suddenly pulled forward by the trash cart when it came to the steeper slope in the driveway toward where it meets County Line Road.