Today a friend posted a meme to Facebook that basically said to stop "giving" money to rich people because they horde it and don't stimulate the economy whereas a poor person would spend it with the result also enriching others. This is my response:
Rich people "horde" their money? So rich people have a big vault, like Scrooge McDuck? Here, all my life, I believed that rich people put their money into real estate, rolling stock, stocks, bonds, banks, and credit unions. What do Wall Street and the banks do with that money? Why, they invest it so that others may buy homes, cars, and operate businesses.When Mr. Bloomberg buys a new yacht the shipbuilder pays hundereds of suppliers and workers, who generally like to be paid. I wasn't given my home, I had to borrow money to buy it. Thank God for the rich people who invest their money in mortgage banks so that I can avail my family of that service. The only "static" money of significance is the $20 bill we keep tucked in our wallets in case of emergency and those silver bars you have hidden under your bed (and once upon a time, you paid for those, too). Of course, money invested returns more money, because that's how smart people invest. I'd like to find these people who are "giving" money to rich people. Having said that, our society cannot afford to give unfair advantage to the wealthy and powerful at the expense of anyone else.But neither should we "eat the rich." That's been tried, and has never, ever, ever worked out well. A progressive and equitable tax system is an indespensible feature of a free economy.
While we're at it, let's include no-cost-to-student lunches in the operation of all public elementary and high schools. Have an EZ day!
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
Friday, December 6, 2019
Why can't sleeping be EZ?
So last night I failed my second medical sleep study.
I failed the first one about a month ago. The room was far too cold for me to sleep in my light pajamas and I'm too claustrophobic to sleep under heavy covers. Add to that a rat's nest of wires and sensors glued to my body and I did not get much sleep. It was, apparently, enough to tell the sleep specialists that I suffer from sleep apnea and would benefit from better, deeper, safer sleep by using an assistive breathing device. In fact, there are indications that I have "central" versus "obstructive" apnea, meaning that my airway doesn't get blocked. Rather, my body just forgets to breathe. They sent me home sleepy and feeling exhausted with an appointment for later follow up.
At that later appointment, I was fitted for a mask that covered my nose, mouth, and chin, and two devices were tested on me.
CPAP: Continuous positive airway pressure. As the name implies, the pressure is continuous. A variety of pressure levels were tested. I hated it. Breathing in was fine, breathing out required overcoming the positive pressure and just seemed impossible, or at least very uncomfortable. CPAP is the oldest and least expensive of the sleep apnea treatment devices.
BiPAP: Bi-level positive airway pressure. This device is supposed to provide positive pressure for inhalation but minimal pressure for exhalation. I hated it a little less. The medic said this would be the correct unit for me.
Now keep in mind that I am so claustrophobic that I have problems in an airplane and car seats and full-blown panic attacks in other situations. I cannot do an enclosed MRI. Years back we tried to do one on my lower back with me heavily sedated. I don't remember being moved by gurney to the MRI room. I don't remember being moved onto the MRI table or ever being inside the MRI machine. What I do remember is waking up on the cold, hard floor of the MRI room with my paper gown around my neck and my fingernails bloodied and broken. The upper inside of the MRI machine was streaked with blood, too.
During the fittings for the mask, I had discussed my claustrophobia with the medic. Recognizing that it may be a problem the doctor sent me home with the mask selected for me with directions to wear it without the pressure machine for increasingly long times until I was comfortable with it.
They then scheduled me for last night's adventure.
In the days between appointments, I faithfully wore the mask. A few minutes on, a few off. An hour on, a few minutes off. I was in control and could take it off any time I needed to. There was no backpressure against my exhaling. I could deal with that! I actually thought I would do OK.
"Welcome to the Sleep Center," said the sign.
After changing into my pajamas (three layers this time so I wouldn't freeze) and taking care of my evening ablutions, I was wired up by the tech. Leads on my chest, leads on my legs, and leads on my head. My vitals were checked. BP-114/77, pulse 61, respiration 12. So far, so good. Then I was fitted with the mask and it was attached to the BiPAP machine which was turned on. "Lie back and relax. Just sleep normally." said the tech.
Right. Cold room. Three layers of PJs. Wires. Sensing straps around chest and belly. Mask. No way to scratch my itching nose. Positive pressure against my airway. Pressure that tickles my lips. Cameras recording my movements. Sleep normally, my ass!
But I tried. I really did. I tried self-hypnosis. I tried chanting. I tried a variety of relaxation techniques. But the BiPap didn't seem to me to operate as advertised. There would be pressure on the inhale--nice, cool, sweet, moist air. About 2/3 of the way into my inhalation cycle, the pressure would go away as the mask made a faint popping sound. It felt as if someone had just pressed their hand over my nose and mouth and required great effort to complete the inhalation cycle. Then, on exhale, I'd start with no positive pressure but before the exhale was finished there'd suddenly be positive pressure that I had to overcome to breathe out. I complained to the tech that it was out of coordination with my respiratory cycle but he told me that it is supposed to sense my breathing and adjust accordingly. It didn't work for me. About the 12th time it stopped my inhale at the 2/3 point, I began to feel the panic attack of claustrophobia building in me. The mask had to come off. I told the tech that I couldn't do this.
At that point, he said, well, there is one other type of PAP device we can try tonight. The newest and most expensive technology for the treatment of apnea: ASV: Adaptive servo-ventilation. This machine adjusts pressure delivery based upon the detection of pauses in breathing during sleep. ASV is primarily used for the treatment of central sleep apnea (which is the kind I supposedly have). I say supposedly because I've been sleeping with the same woman for over 51 years and she says she's never noticed snoring or signs of apnea.
Well, "OK. Let's try that one." And we did. It seemed to work very nicely, very closely attuned to my breathing rhythms. Gentle pressure on the intake, no back- pressure on the exhale. And it was much quieter than either of the other machines. It was good enough that I ALMOST went to sleep. Three times. But each time I'd come back suddenly from the edge of sleep in a panic from having my face enclosed within the mask with straps over and behind my head. And, when I was able to relax, I was also having a problem with saliva. My mouth makes a lot--dentists have commented on how healthy that is. When sleeping, I have three options: swallow, drool, or drown. The mask made drooling almost impossible so I was swallowing. Every time I'd swallow, the machine thought that I was inhaling so it gave me a blast of positive pressure which wound up in my gut with the saliva. After about 20 minutes of this my stomach was distended and I was belching into the mask. After about 20 minutes of belching into the mask, I gave up, sat up, and pulled the mask off.
"So," the tech said, "it's midnight and you obviously can't do this. Do you want to go home?"
"Absolutely, yes!" I replied.
And that is how I wound up at home in my own bed before one am on a Thursday night with no respiratory assistive devices or wires attached to me. And I slept well. I felt great when I woke up at seven am. Before leaving the sleep center I pointed out to the tech that I normally really felt pretty good for a man my age. I'm relatively active and I don't have headaches and such. I also told him that I would rather die in my sleep than have to sleep with a PAP device on my face.
I failed a sleep test, even after studying and preparing for it.
I failed the first one about a month ago. The room was far too cold for me to sleep in my light pajamas and I'm too claustrophobic to sleep under heavy covers. Add to that a rat's nest of wires and sensors glued to my body and I did not get much sleep. It was, apparently, enough to tell the sleep specialists that I suffer from sleep apnea and would benefit from better, deeper, safer sleep by using an assistive breathing device. In fact, there are indications that I have "central" versus "obstructive" apnea, meaning that my airway doesn't get blocked. Rather, my body just forgets to breathe. They sent me home sleepy and feeling exhausted with an appointment for later follow up.
At that later appointment, I was fitted for a mask that covered my nose, mouth, and chin, and two devices were tested on me.
CPAP: Continuous positive airway pressure. As the name implies, the pressure is continuous. A variety of pressure levels were tested. I hated it. Breathing in was fine, breathing out required overcoming the positive pressure and just seemed impossible, or at least very uncomfortable. CPAP is the oldest and least expensive of the sleep apnea treatment devices.
BiPAP: Bi-level positive airway pressure. This device is supposed to provide positive pressure for inhalation but minimal pressure for exhalation. I hated it a little less. The medic said this would be the correct unit for me.
Now keep in mind that I am so claustrophobic that I have problems in an airplane and car seats and full-blown panic attacks in other situations. I cannot do an enclosed MRI. Years back we tried to do one on my lower back with me heavily sedated. I don't remember being moved by gurney to the MRI room. I don't remember being moved onto the MRI table or ever being inside the MRI machine. What I do remember is waking up on the cold, hard floor of the MRI room with my paper gown around my neck and my fingernails bloodied and broken. The upper inside of the MRI machine was streaked with blood, too.
During the fittings for the mask, I had discussed my claustrophobia with the medic. Recognizing that it may be a problem the doctor sent me home with the mask selected for me with directions to wear it without the pressure machine for increasingly long times until I was comfortable with it.
They then scheduled me for last night's adventure.
In the days between appointments, I faithfully wore the mask. A few minutes on, a few off. An hour on, a few minutes off. I was in control and could take it off any time I needed to. There was no backpressure against my exhaling. I could deal with that! I actually thought I would do OK.
"Welcome to the Sleep Center," said the sign.
After changing into my pajamas (three layers this time so I wouldn't freeze) and taking care of my evening ablutions, I was wired up by the tech. Leads on my chest, leads on my legs, and leads on my head. My vitals were checked. BP-114/77, pulse 61, respiration 12. So far, so good. Then I was fitted with the mask and it was attached to the BiPAP machine which was turned on. "Lie back and relax. Just sleep normally." said the tech.
Right. Cold room. Three layers of PJs. Wires. Sensing straps around chest and belly. Mask. No way to scratch my itching nose. Positive pressure against my airway. Pressure that tickles my lips. Cameras recording my movements. Sleep normally, my ass!
But I tried. I really did. I tried self-hypnosis. I tried chanting. I tried a variety of relaxation techniques. But the BiPap didn't seem to me to operate as advertised. There would be pressure on the inhale--nice, cool, sweet, moist air. About 2/3 of the way into my inhalation cycle, the pressure would go away as the mask made a faint popping sound. It felt as if someone had just pressed their hand over my nose and mouth and required great effort to complete the inhalation cycle. Then, on exhale, I'd start with no positive pressure but before the exhale was finished there'd suddenly be positive pressure that I had to overcome to breathe out. I complained to the tech that it was out of coordination with my respiratory cycle but he told me that it is supposed to sense my breathing and adjust accordingly. It didn't work for me. About the 12th time it stopped my inhale at the 2/3 point, I began to feel the panic attack of claustrophobia building in me. The mask had to come off. I told the tech that I couldn't do this.
At that point, he said, well, there is one other type of PAP device we can try tonight. The newest and most expensive technology for the treatment of apnea: ASV: Adaptive servo-ventilation. This machine adjusts pressure delivery based upon the detection of pauses in breathing during sleep. ASV is primarily used for the treatment of central sleep apnea (which is the kind I supposedly have). I say supposedly because I've been sleeping with the same woman for over 51 years and she says she's never noticed snoring or signs of apnea.
Well, "OK. Let's try that one." And we did. It seemed to work very nicely, very closely attuned to my breathing rhythms. Gentle pressure on the intake, no back- pressure on the exhale. And it was much quieter than either of the other machines. It was good enough that I ALMOST went to sleep. Three times. But each time I'd come back suddenly from the edge of sleep in a panic from having my face enclosed within the mask with straps over and behind my head. And, when I was able to relax, I was also having a problem with saliva. My mouth makes a lot--dentists have commented on how healthy that is. When sleeping, I have three options: swallow, drool, or drown. The mask made drooling almost impossible so I was swallowing. Every time I'd swallow, the machine thought that I was inhaling so it gave me a blast of positive pressure which wound up in my gut with the saliva. After about 20 minutes of this my stomach was distended and I was belching into the mask. After about 20 minutes of belching into the mask, I gave up, sat up, and pulled the mask off.
"So," the tech said, "it's midnight and you obviously can't do this. Do you want to go home?"
"Absolutely, yes!" I replied.
And that is how I wound up at home in my own bed before one am on a Thursday night with no respiratory assistive devices or wires attached to me. And I slept well. I felt great when I woke up at seven am. Before leaving the sleep center I pointed out to the tech that I normally really felt pretty good for a man my age. I'm relatively active and I don't have headaches and such. I also told him that I would rather die in my sleep than have to sleep with a PAP device on my face.
I failed a sleep test, even after studying and preparing for it.
Wednesday, December 4, 2019
The trip couldn't have been better even if it had been EZ.
We got home from San Antonio at about 7 pm last night. I was
tired but restless so I watched TV until 11 pm (just junk, the worse the better
for my exhausted mental state at the time). Then I slept until 9:30 am. I don’t
remember the last time I did that.
We had a great trip. The flights both ways were fine, on time
and delivery of service as promised. Still not my favorite way to travel. In
coach, I mean. In First, yeah, that’s my favorite way to travel. But, our air
fare was $230 each RT PHX to SAT in American’s “Basic Economy.” With this fare there are additional fees so we paid $30 each way for one (large) checked bag
and $30 each each way to select our seats (otherwise, with Basic Economy, you likely wind
up in center seats in different rows.) Plus parking in Phoenix was $72 and our
UBER from the San Antonio Airport to Derek’s was $18 and I passed out a total
of $30 in baggage, porter, and driver tips. So the air portion really cost a
total of $758 for both of us. American isn’t as bad as some of the other
airlines when you buy the cheap seats. United even charges to use the
overhead bin and you have to pay for peanuts and soft drinks. “Fly the Friendly
Skies of United,” indeed. American includes those in the cost. Still, a
two-hour flight each way means more time with friends and family and less time
in transit than driving. Plus it would have cost that much or more to drive by the time we
paid for fuel, hotel, and meals—even if we did it on the cheap, which I’m too
old and worked too many hard years to do—I need a good bed, lots of hot water,
and a decent evening meal. I admit to being spoiled. I will proceed to submit
evidence of said spoiling, below.
We stayed at Derek and Jill’s. They gave us their room with
a wonderful bed which was incredibly kind of them. I think maybe they’re trying to
make us feel bad for moving. Our UBER driver from the Airport was a recent
“escapee” from the socialist paradise that is Venezuela and he spoke no
English. Fun. Thank God for Glenda’s Spanish proficiency. Derek loaned us his
car for the stay, and I managed to put a few hundred miles on it. Jill fixed
Thanksgiving dinner with ham, stuffing, and sweet potatoes which gave us leftovers
for snacking most of the weekend. We did eat out quite a bit, as there are
“go-to” cafes in the San Antonio area that we really, really missed.
Friday we had eggs Benedict for breakfast in Schertz at
Able’s Diner. (https://abelsdiner.com/) Later, we
drove by our old Hull Street house (looks fine) and we got to visit with Jack
and MarJo Jones, Schertz neighbors that we have missed since we moved at the
end of 2009. That evening (Friday) we
went with Derek and Jill to Johnson City 62 miles north of San Antonio to see
the holiday lights display sponsored by Pedernales Electric Cooperative. 3.2 *million*
lights in the display. We got a hay ride behind a vintage Farmall tractor and
ate Texas-style BBQ at a booth in the fair. There were over 100 vendor booths set up in
Courthouse Square as part of the event. I even bought Glenda a sterling chain
and medallion with an agate setting that she likes. The vendor was from Nepal.
Marvelous time and very Christmassy, if green grass and sweater weather under
the Texas stars fits your idea of Christmas. (https://www.pec.coop/our-community/pec-holiday-lights/)
Saturday Derek, Jill, and Ian accompanied us to meet with
Amy and family. She brought Lauren, Sarah, Connor, and her eldest son James
along with his wife Dulce and their daughter Charlotte (Charlie). We met at an
IHOP near Amy’s home and had a great brunch – enough food to have fed Venezuela
for a day. There was great discussion and fun around a huge table assembled for
us from several by the IHOP crew. We then went to Amy’s for a visit in
her home. We got news of Jamie and Daniel though they couldn’t join us. Jamie
is engaged to Jackie Acosta (he’s been dating her for several years, so it’s
about time) and Daniel is in the Army currently at Fort Hood in central Texas
but leaving there soon for an assignment in Alaska. Before we left Amy’s I
handed out some small gifts that I had brought for all the children, to include
Ian. I didn’t know that Charlie would be joining us, but Amy had a spare new, big stuffed toy of Olaf from Frozen 2 which was a perfect gift for 2-year-old
Charlie—Amy saved the day! Hugs and tears of love preceded our departure.
Saturday afternoon I got a 90-minute massage from Phaedra at
Moon Goddess Massage – she was our massage therapist for nearly 10 years before
we left SA, and I’ve not had a massage since we moved until Saturday. (https://www.facebook.com/MoonGoddesssMassage/)
She is a marvelous therapist, and as usual, I was weak jelly afterwards and had
to be poured into a recliner when I got back to Derek’s. We may have watched a
movie at Derek’s in their theater room, but I really don’t remember. I did
sleep well that night. Glenda didn’t get her massage from Phaedra until Monday
afternoon, but she did get a mani-pedi from Tulip at Nail Talk (her former and
still favorite nail tech) at the same time I was being transported to another
plane of existence on Phaedra’s table. That evening we got our Tex-Mex fix at
Taco Cabana. (https://www.tacocabana.com/)
Sunday morning we attended church in our previous Ward in
SA—Eden Ward in San Antonio East Stake. Great Sunday Sacrament Fast and Testimony Meeting and Glenda bore a succinct and strong testimony. We saw and
greeted many, many of our old friends, as we had hoped to do. While the ward
has a new bishop (Named Chandler who moved to SA from the Val Vista and Broadway area of Mesa about a year ago!?!) the bishop who
had been “ours,” Jonathan Abercrombie, was there and we got to greet him. After
church we met my dear friend Nancy Hanna and her husband Edwin Matos at
Starbucks inside Barnes and Nobel and had a nice two-hour chat. I’m very glad
we got to see them. Sunday evening, Derek, Jill, Ian, and we met with Jennifer
who is in town for some training from USAA for dinner. We had a great family
meal and dinner at Nicha’s Mexican Comida. (https://www.nichas.com/) Lesson learned: Don't order a salt-rimmed drink when you have chapped lips. We got home late, but slept well.
Monday morning I went to Jim’s Coffee Shop, a San Antonio
tradition since 1959, for a light breakfast. (http://jimscoffeeshop.com/lincolnpark/)
While there I noted the restaurant was busy with people of many colors,
ethnicities, backgrounds, politics, and beliefs. Wait staff moved around the
restaurant chatting easily with everyone. Greetings and remarks flowed from
table to table in a spirit of good will to all and laughter seemed the language
of the day. This cosmopolitan feeling is common in San Antonio. I miss that, because
you just don’t find that everywhere. Then I got Derek’s car washed and detailed
and filled it with fuel. I can still hear my father telling me: “When you must
borrow something, ensure that you return it when promised and in better
condition than you got it.” His teachings have served me well for nearly 70
years. I also helped Derek with a couple of simple repairs in their home – took
only a few moments for each and I was able to share some of the knowledge I’ve gained
over the years.
Monday afternoon Derek, Jill, Ian, and we took a small spray of
white carnations to Vincent’s grave at the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.
(https://www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/ftsamhouston.asp)
Today, December 4th,
is the one year anniversary of his passing. While we were there, Jillian was
able to find her maternal grandparents graves—she had never visited them
before. We also signed up to have Vincent’s grave included in the Wreaths
Across America program ((https://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/)
This was a sobering but wonderful experience—alone, this would have been worth
the trip to San Antonio.
That evening we visited with Alex and Amanda Cabrera in
their home. That used to be our home on Overton Road. They’ve done it proud and
I think it looks better than it ever did when we lived there. The home has a
presence – a spirit, if you will. We felt it when we first saw the home in
2009, the Cabrera’s say they felt it on first entry in 2018, and I profess it
is still alive. The Cabreras are the fourth owners of this Morton-Southwest
1972-built home. The first owners were the Holloway family. Mr. Holloway was
the lead engineer and builder for Morton-Southwest in San Antonio. We think
that he may have had the construction crews work a little extra hard on his own
home. The son, Mike, is now a respected custom home builder in San Antonio. (http://www.mikehollaway.com/) The second owner was
the Catholic Church and housed five lay ministers (not ordained) of the
Focolare Movement (https://www.focolare.org/usa/). In
order to buy the home, we had to wait for a signature from Rome. We were the
third owners and the Cabreras own it now. We were joined by Martha Beard, next
door neighbor, and we all went for a wonderful evening dinner at La Marginal
Puerto Rican restaurant on Nacogdoches just north of Loop I-410. The restaurant
has set the standard for Caribbean Hispanic food and immaculate service since
1999 in the same location. Can’t argue with 20 years of success! (http://www.lamarginalrestaurant.com/) I have, in the past, asked the owners what the name meant, as there doesn't seem to be a direct Spanish-English translation and the restaurant is certainly not 'marginal.' I was told it was intended to indicate the location in the suburbs near the edge of the city. The location hasn't been near the edge of SA for many years. A great meal and wonderful conversation was enjoyed by all. I was surprised
when Alex asked me to say grace over the meal. Protestant, Catholic, and LDS
joined in mutual compassion, respect, and gratitude.
Tuesday morning was time to pack. Of course, we couldn’t
leave SA on a Tuesday without first enjoying a lunch of BBQ Frito Pie from Smokin’
Joe’s family-run restaurant. (http://smokinjoesoftexas.com/) This is Jillian’s
favorite place in the world to eat and is only about 1 mile from their home. A
delight. (Side note: The ham we had eaten for Thanksgiving had been smoked by Joe for Jillian. They have a family-like relationship with Joe and his family.)
After lunch, we bid our farewells with hugs from Jillian and Ian. Derek dropped
us with a big hug at the entry to Terminal B at the San Antonio airport and we
were on our way home. Dak had been well cared for at our home by our friend
Chandra Buchanan, but he seemed to be as glad to see us as we were to see him.
Puppy kisses were shared by all.
It is good to be home. It was good to be in San Antonio with
friends and family. It is good.
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