Saturday, January 23, 2021

 Saturday, January 23, 2021

            I was in active discomfort last night. I suspect it because my body took a pounding yesterday. The mammogram was one of the most uncomfortable I have ever had, and I have had many. The tech couldn’t get my right breast in the proper position. She tried over and over again. I had to ask for a break. Then the ultrasound required her to push the probe deep into my belly as well as run it lightly over the surface.  

      I was up a good part of the night and slept in. I got up at 6:45. I had no time to walk. I fed Elsa.

            Elsa rejected the food. This is the third meal she refused. Yvette took her down to her quarters yesterday and put out three handfuls of her food. Elsa gobbled that up. Mind you, Yvette’s dogs eat the same Science Diet that is part of Elsa’s food. 

     When she rejected her food again last night, I called the vet right after yoga this morning. Donna told me to keep an eye on her till Monday. She said the crucial thing to watch in the meantime was her water consumption. She would be fine as long as she was drinking water. Donna concluded with, “I hope not to hear from you.” To which I responded, “I hope never to see you again, too.” Donna laughed. 

            My 10 am healing client canceled. I was supposed to meet with J at 11:30. I texted him to say I could do it earlier. He asked me if I could do it later, at 12:30. I got a text from Dorothy saying she was up for working on the PowerPoint. We worked for well over an hour. In the end, she told me to send her the PP and the script I had written. I spent hours today organizing the documents. I also added some more slides. I am trying to compress a 300-page book into a half-hour video. Good luck!

            I worked on the math with J. He said he wanted to start working on remembering his math facts. When I asked him a multiplication fact, he always knew the answer. The problem was the speed with which he retrieved it.

            Elsa refused her dinner again tonight. I didn’t soak it in water as Dr. Marty’s recommends. That way, I can leave the food out for her to eat whenever. I texted Yvette that she wasn’t eating again. Since she ate three handfuls of food when she was down at Yvette’s, we thought maybe she would eat some of that food. Mind you, the food Yvette feeds her dogs is the same as the food I feed Elsa, just the individual kibble bits are smaller. Yvette brought up some of her food. No. Yvette picked up Elsa and took her down to her place. Maybe being around the other dogs helped. No. This was getting scary. She would walk up to a bit of kibble lying on the kitchen floor, sniff it, even sometimes take it in her mouth and then drop it. 

            I just worked on the PowerPoint tonight. I never turned on the tv. I’m not finding much that is satisfying. On the other hand, I have tripped upon some movies that I found compelling. The movie Patterson with Adam Driver is one of them. A remarkable film, so low key, so understated, so tender. 

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            Our country is a victim of its own success. Since the end of WWII, the goal has been to get everyone into and through college. More and more people have followed that path. But they are those who were left behind to be the ‘working-class.’ 

            The working class was seen as something to escape; we wanted better for our children. Now, here we are, and those who didn’t make the leap feel unseen, unvalued, and are raising quite a ruckus. Surprise!!!

            It would be good if a college grad could value a sanitation worker. That way, all sanitation workers would be appreciated for the important job they do. We would all be dead ducks if there were none.  

            In the middle of the pandemic, many of those scorned workers are now recognized as being essential. They have always been essential.