I'm so grateful

Last summer I set about plumbing the political depths of people aroud me, for the purpose of organizing some troups to the cause. In this big sea of fellow old faces I was encouraged by finally falling into a compatible dining table group. I got a kick in the butt from a fellow oldster. We were in line for dinner and I brought up a political topic. "Oh, I don't vote!" I was informed. "They're all crooks!"

"If you don't vote, you don't count," I replied. My standard put-down. "Oh, I know that." she reponded.

There still was time to register for the November election then, so I decided to do something. I enlisted our new activities director, who knows everyone and who is a vocal liberal, to put up posters encouraging voter registration and giving registrations to interested people. They must be returned by mail, but old folks tend to have stamps.

Then I tackled my table on several state issues that seemed (and were) hopeless, but consitituent opinions needed recording. I started with a comment on the campus protests against Palestinian violence.

"Do you think they do any good?" asked timid Marcia, a retired nurse. I went into a discourse on the Vietnam protests long ago, and later on campus protests against some administration policies. I explained how we linked arms and blocked Euclid Avenue running through the center of campus. "Hey! Hey! LBJ! How many boys did you kill today?"

There was a lively discourse around the table that night and most every night since. Plenty of organizing has been planned and implemented. At the end of supper that night Marcia stopped me and said "I am so grateful to know a real protester from back then!"

More personal stories have been shared around the table since then. One night we talked about international travel. Marcia has been to Africa and Latin America. "What did you see!" She had no idea. She'd spent several months administering vaccines for smallpox and measles, sleeping between shifts.

I am so grateful to know a humanitarian health care provider. I am so grateful to know all of you, who have been so kind in this trying time. Thank you. I am working with my doctor to get past this, and will succeed. I'm about to go weave another bobbin of olive.

Hello

 I'm here to let you know I'm here. Finally I hope I am on the proper path. I've begun week three of a four week protocol. It is an abject failure, which is not all bad. It is a quantifiable result and shows a direction to a better end.

For pain relief I am back on buprenorphine, which is the chemical name of the Belbuca I used to take. This time I'm using a transdermal system, a patch. I began this drug and method years ago. It became rapidly apparent my skin could not tolerate the patch adhesive and my pain doctor switched me to Belbuca, a sublingual method.

The sublingual worked beautifully, it's only drawback, the cost. In the beginning and for years I could afford it. I had a job. When I did retire, I had savings. My drug copays were managable, even after I retired ten years ago.

But the perfect storm of Covid, lockdown, the opiod scandle, moving house and rising costs made Belbuca impossible. My pain doctor was forty five minutes away, impossible when I no longer had a car, and cost climbed to a $300 a month copay, more than I could afford.

My year of ibuprohpen has become a failure. My personal opinion is I did not augment my pain by quitting Belbuca. I am a classic chronic pain syndrome patient and as additional bones and vertebrae disintigrate, pain increases. So I am back to my original pain management doctor and buprenorphine patches. $13 per month at my lowest dose. It will increase as the dose increases, but probably will remaine "reasonable".

I am at the lowest dose, and it is not effective. Every three weeks it can be increased. That will be next week. I believe I am on a better path, and eventually will be as good as a year ago.

In the meantime, I miss living. In the last six months I have finished one color of towels. Just off the loom last week and on the web today, purple. I've increased the price to $34, the same as most woven towels my size on the internet today. The chief difference is they charge additional postage and I include postage in that $34. It's a charge I hate, and I'm sure you do too. Of course I think mine are better! I explain all that on my web page.

I don't expect to have more towels soon, and my thread is getting way down.

Lavendar, grey, lime, scarlet, peacock. What do you suggest? This may be the last rosepath towel; it's time to find a new pattern with an affinity for water and other things that need soaking up.

That pretty much summarizes my last several months. I remain the in-house organizer. Old folks make a fine cadre of rear guard. We keep elected officials' phones busy and we buy porta-potties for events. Use your rights to prove you have them!