28 June 2024
When adults were explaining where babies came from to young kids, the most common refrain was “The stork brought you.” If you had a particular creative adult, you might hear the expression “You fell off a turnip truck.” I can’t attest that I didn’t fall off a turnip truck but I surely do like turnips. I left you yesterday with a turnip recipe.
The dish turned out pretty good. The Dijon mustard gave the cubes a little tang and the lemon juice brightened the taste. However, I must admit, I prefer them raw. As a matter of fact, while reading this afternoon I ate the second turnip, cubed as before sans any cooking or dressing.
When teaching, I used to do turnips as a substitution to carrots for a snack. I would get tired of chewing carrots and turnips were softer and milder in taste. However, I’m sure people steered away from me because of bad breath and a small gas leak.
I started the morning attempting to do the Riverland Road stretch and got about a quarter of the way when my ankle started to bother me. I turned around and headed home. By the time I got home, the ankle was fine but I could just see me about half way on the walk having to call an Uber to get back home.
After my Cheerios and coffee, I headed out to clean the pool strainer and pool filter. It wasn’t too dirty this time. Sometimes it takes longer when the vacuum picks up more material. It takes about 20 minutes to clean the filter and about 45 minutes to do the rest of the pool maintenance. After that, it was spraying for weeds.
I puttered around the house until time for my 1:45 blood draw at Hollywood Memorial. I walked into the outpatient center and they took me in right away. The phlebotomist was pretty good and hit the vein on first try on my hand. For some reason, the veins on my hand look “juicy” to them.
I stopped on my way home at Publix and picked up my Cymbalta. Yesterday, I picked up the Jardiance at Walgreens and she charged my card for $47+. I got to thinking that was a little high and thought I would check GoodRx. The lowest price was Walmart for $595 and the highest was at Publix at $638. I’ll stick with Walgreens $47.
My shipmate on the CGC Reliance, Jim, instant messaged me on Facebook that the VA Pact Act has now recognized male breast cancer as a presumed service related condition. Jim has been recognized by the VA to have been exposed to toxic materials while on duty. He thinks since he has been, I would be too. He said if Congress adds cutters then we will be able to file. I have no idea what the benefits will be but I’ll probably file.
As a radioman, I mentioned that in the Coast Guard, I had to be able to stand any watch on the ship, including engine room. That also meant that any time the ship needed scraping and painting I had to help out with that. We used a needle gun to blast the paint off and then we used a red colored rust guard as a primer. All of that was probably toxic. Apparently the Commandant in charge of Environment has already said the Reliance had toxic asbestos and paint. The VA website says that the average number of days waiting for completion on claims is 166 days. Thanks Jim for calling this to my attention.
It’s time for my meds. Stay tuned!
