The big news, I’m typing with two hands. My left one did not fall off from the cut. I didn’t even lose a finger. That is somewhat disappointing. Instead of the full gauze bandage I’m wearing a bandaid and it hardly hurts. Now that It’s not gross I might take a photo when I change the dressing. I’m expecting that all you’ll see is the stitches and a red line where the cut was. I have avoided infection. This has reminded me of one of the things I’ve often reflected on, how different life is since the invention of modern medicine. The odds are pretty high that without the thorough cleaning done by me, immediately, the topical antibiotics, and the covering with the bandages I would have gotten infected. The odds are I would have fought it off on my own but there is a small but not insignificant chance that sepsis might have set it. We can thank Louis Pasteur for coming up with the germ theory of disease. The average person only lived to 30 because so many died in childhood. If you survived until adulthood the odds are that you picked up lots of immunity on the way.
I taught yesterday and did fine. Most of the faculty and some of the students expressed their concern for me. What they didn’t know was that my biggest problems were not with my cut, but from being an idiot. Last Friday I somehow lost my school room key. I called the Towne Crier and it was not found there. Yesterday in a burst of idiocy I forgot to eat my lunch. I have never forgotten to eat. I was wondering why I was hungry all day. I found my sandwich when I went shopping at Trader Joe’s. My lunch became my dinner. I didn’t feel like cooking. Even though I was home resting all day Wednesday I was exhausted last night. I don’t think I ever turned on the TV. I kept falling asleep sitting at my computer. I then finally got to bed before 10 PM. That’s my goal every day but last night I succeeded. I was motivated by having a personal winter. That’s a term I just came up with based on a phrase a colleague used for hot flashes, a personal summer. A personal winter is the other side of the coin, chills. That scared me. It usually means the onset of a Crohn’s attack. I get the chills as my body tries to rapidly go from 98.6 to 102. I got into bed and drew all my covers over me. When the chills ended I took my temperature, 97.4. That was not what caused my chills. I have no idea what did, it was something hormonal. This led to my best night’s sleep on a school day. I needed it because of another idiot story. When I got to the subway after school yesterday I discovered that I left my phone behind. Good thing I pay for the subway with Google Pay on my phone or I would not have noticed until I was on the train. I went back and got it. So why did that make me need sleep? It didn’t. It just leads into the stupider thing I did.
This morning I went to get my travel coffee mug out of my bag to fill to bring to school. It wasn’t there. I left it on my desk. It was with my phone yet it didn’t register on my brain. I had to drink the school supplied Keurig coffee and use the school supplied artificial creamer. Yuck! I resisted paying for Dunkin’ on the way in. It would be worth the money but I am unhappy with the company.
Tonight I’m staying home. On Saturday I’m going to Pete’s Candy Store, two blocks from school, to see Mary Lee Kortes. For reasons I don’t understand, I haven’t seen her in a decade. I have played her music the last two weeks on Gord’s Gold. Come join me. Then join me again on Sunday when I see Amy Kucharik for the first time outside of NERFA. I have played
her many times on Gord’s Gold and watched her streaming shows even before the pandemic. The show is in Astoria. Which of my Queens or Manhattan friends want to join me? She’s playing at Bier and Cheese. She has not played in New York since I met her. I don’t know if she has any following here. So you should come see her on my very strong recommendation.
This week’s Gord’s Gold is now posted on Mixcloud. Go listen to it.
Wise Madness 