Dave's Journal, June 2019
Butter / Avocado Toast - "Try it", they said, "it's good", they said. Well, I had this for breakfast just now and am waiting anxiously for my gut reaction. (It did taste good - better than it looks, at least - with coffee.)
I have been getting over some hurdles in listening to music, and making some big steps forward. I got some new (actually used - thanks Mike) midrange speakers and pumped up my subwoofer and listening downstairs via the CD player / amplifier / speakers (no headphones). I am so happy I could almost cry.
Been listening to Dave Brubeck, Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown the past week, and it's been great. Gonna try some 1950's doo-wop this week.
Going to the audiologist Friday to retune the low end of my implant down to the 60-70Hz range. Probably not everyone appreciates how great this is, but really .... it's great !
Thinking that we will tune the new (August 23rd) implant slightly different than the first one so my brain gets the widest possible range of frequencies. May take some months to "soak in" but it's important to me.
Saw it in IMAX (the seats and floor were shaking !). Keeping in mind that it's a giant monster movie (and not King Lear), it was an outstanding movie. Monster battles galore, great new muscular and huge huge Godzilla. It will be tough for the next episode to beat this one. Ooooo.... wait ..... did someone say "Mecha-Godzilla" ?
In my childhood schooling, we practiced air raid drills, ducking under our desks, turning our faces away from the windows, because "The Russians are going to drop atom bombs on us some day". So, I grew up thinking the lousy Commies were hateful, godless people who dropped atom bombs on school kids. Let's file that under "Lies my teachers told me".
Historically, religion has been a very important part of the Russian peoples' lives. The religious art created for churches was fascinating - many with gold or silver leaf overlays. Anyway .... here are some snapshots. I even bought some miniatures for my basement "art gallery".
Always too crowded, and not many new cars, but still enjoyable.
Spent an hour yesterday with my audio therapist, helping me hear words and music better, and interface with strangers better. She tells me to stop saying "I am deaf" to strangers because that immediately scares them off talking to me. So I'm working up some not-so-scary alternatives.
Like just shouting "WHAT?" in people's faces? Or squinting, shaking my head and pointing to my ears?
I'll work on it. .... "I'm hearing impaired" sounds too socially perfect, I need something with a snap to it.
My personal favorite is the sarcastic ..... "Can you talk faster? I almost understood what you were saying."
That crazy cardinal is back banging herself against the window !
I have been very good in keeping politics out of my journal here, but now and then, I must break my own rule. This is the text of the speech that John Stewart made a week back. Behind this subject is the pathetic do-nothing work ethic of our government. A lot of sad excuses for not running the country properly.
I want to thank Mr. Collins and Mr. Nadler for putting this together. But as I sit here today, I can't help but think what an incredible metaphor this room is for the entire process that getting health care benefits for 9/11 first responders has come to. Behind me, a filled room of 9/11 first responders and in front of me, a nearly empty Congress.
Sick and dying, they brought themselves down here to speak to no one. Shameful. It\u2019s an embarrassment to the country and it's a stain on this institution. And you should be ashamed of yourselves for those that aren't here. But you won't be because accountability doesn't appear to be something that occurs in this chamber. We don't want to be here. Lou (Alvarez) doesn't want to be here. None of these people want to be here. But they are, and they're not here for themselves. They're here to continue fighting for what's right.
Lou's going to go back for his 69th chemo. The great Ray Pfeifer would come down here, his body riddled with cancer and pain, where he couldn't walk, and the disrespect shown to him and to the other lobbyists on this bill is utterly unacceptable.
You know, I would be so angry at the latest injustice that's been done to these men and women. Another business card thrown our way as a way of shooing us away like children trick-or-treating rather than the heroes that they are and will always be. Ray would say, "Calm down" Jonny, "calm down". I got all the cards I need. And he would tap his pocket where he kept prayer cards. Three hundred forty-three firefighters.
The official FDNY response time to 9/11 was five seconds. Five seconds. That's how long it took for FDNY, for NYPD, for Port Authority, EMS to respond to an urgent need from the public. Five seconds. Hundreds died in an instant. Thousands more poured in to continue to fight for their brothers and sisters.
The breathing problems started almost immediately and they were told they weren't sick, they were crazy. And then, as the illnesses got worse, and things became more apparent, "Well okay, you're sick, but it's not from the pile." And then when the science became irrefutable, "Okay, it's the pile, but this is a New York issue. I don't know if we have the money"
And I'm sorry if I sound angry and undiplomatic. But I'm angry, and you should be too, and they're all angry as well and they have every justification to be that way. There is not a person here, there is not an empty chair on that stage that didn't tweet out 'Never Forget the heroes of 9/11'. Never forget their bravery. Never forget what they did, what they gave to this country. Well, here they are. And where are they? And it would be one thing if their callous indifference and rank hypocrisy were benign, but it's not. Your indifference cost these men and women their most valuable commodity: time. It's the one thing they're running out of.
This should be flipped, this hearing should be flipped. These men and women should be up on that stage and Congress should be down here answering their questions as to why this is so damn hard and takes so damn long and why no matter what they get, something's always pulled back and they gotta come back.
Mr. (Mike) Johnson (R-La.), you made a point earlier and it is one we've heard over and over again in these halls, and I couldn't help but to answer which was you guys are obviously heroes and 9/11 was a big deal but we have a lot of stuff here to do and we've got to make sure there's money for a variety of disasters, hurricanes and tornadoes\u200b. But this wasn't a hurricane. And this wasn't a tornado, and by the way, that's your job anyway. We can't fund these programs. You can.
Setting aside that no American in this country should face financial ruin because of a health issue. Certainly 9/11 first responders shouldn't decide whether to live or to have a place to live. And the idea that you can give them only five more years of the VCF because you're not quite sure what's gonna happen five years from now. Well, I can tell you, I'm pretty sure what's going to happen five years from now. More of these men and women are going to get sick and they are going to die. And I am awfully tired of hearing that it's a 9/11 New York issue. Al Qaeda didn't shout "Death to Tribeca." They attacked Americaand these men and women and their response to it is what brought our country back. It's what gave a reeling nation a solid foundation to stand back upon. To remind us of why this country is great, of why this country is worth fighting for.
And you are ignoring them. You can end it tomorrow. Why this bill isn't unanimous consent and a standalone issue is beyond my comprehension, and I've yet to hear a reasonable explanation for why it'll get stuck in some transportation bill or some appropriations bill and get sent over to the Senate, where a certain someone from the Senate will use it as a political football to get themselves maybe another new import tax on petroleum, because thats what happened to us in 2015.
And we won't allow it to happen again. Thank God for people like John Feals, thank God for people like Ray Pfeifer, thank God for all these people who will not let it happen. They responded in five seconds. They did their jobs with courage, grace, tenacity, humility. Eighteen years later, do yours. Thank you.
Father's day and Mike's and Chris' birthdays - we had a small bunch here for the afternoon. Have enough leftovers to feed the city. Here is (an "art impression of) Iuri inspecting one of my old cameras.
We made some hard cash with our toilet sign!!
Not much going on this week, except the rain. Reading the book "Lost New York, I got nostalgic about the classic architecture that we once had in NYC (1800's) and then knocked down and replaced with glass and steel apartments and offices. Sad.
Blue (our cat) got shook up with the people we had over last Sunday. Just coming out of it now. Still is afraid of people and sudden movements. But he's a good, sweet boy.
Nice day in Boston today, along the Harbor Walk, then salads and wine at Tia's. Weather was great, crowds were large and everywhere.
Slow week, no day trips. Met with audiologist one day and pathologist another. Tried to tune my ear implant for low frequencies, but she did not do it as I expected, so we'll try again some day. Picked up a wicked bad sore throat.
I be weary.
I be sleepy.
Eyes be red and weepy.
Many pills
Not fixing ills,
But making dreams be creepy.
It's amazing how bad you can feel and not be dead.
Had such a horrible night, I got off the sofa, took a shower, woke Deb up and headed for the local Urgent Care center. Tell him my story - bad cold or flu for a week, cannot sleep, seriously over-medicated but nothing works.
They do this (X-ray) and that (EKG), which sends them into a tizzy because my resting pulse rate, lying on a table, is 137 BPM. I explain that I did not take my a-fib meds this morning, he explains that he called an ambulance to take me to the hospital emergency room, and I can't talk him out of it. Except I said "My wife will drive me" and he types our entire conversation into his formal report, says "sign this"and allows Deb to drive me.
Hospital ER nurse attaches the "vital signs gizmos" and that instatnly triggers beeping noises and she goes for the Dr and he says .... your resting pulse rate is 149 BPM. So I started thinking this is going to be a long day.
At least 5 people come and go, asking question, typing, watching the monitor. One lady hooks up an IV and they start pumping heart meds and Ringer's Solution into my veins. Pulse and blood pressure bounce up and down for 2 ours, then settle down.
Well.... I am going to live, they tell me. I do not have a congestive heart problem, I have broncitis that, on top of my overdosing meds, triggered an "a-fib" event.
I am alive and not any less well than I was 2 weeks back, but learned my lesson - if drug store meds don't work, overdosing on them won't work either.
I am really, really tired.
Saw my cardiologist and PCP and they jumped on the problems they own. Tweaked a few meds - time will tell.
Giggles
