Friday, August 30, 2013

News last night – McDonald's workers are striking for $15.00 an hour, rather than the $7.25 that they are getting now. I don't see the management giving $15.00, but I expect they will get a substantial raise. I hope so, anyway. It's hard to imagine living on $7.25.

News today – New York City subway trains were stopped on several lines for a period variously reported as being one hour to seven hours in different articles, while workers unsuccessfully chased two kittens that were on the track. A woman reported that her kittens were in the subway system, but the article didn't say how they got there. According to a blog, the lady who owned them was transporting them at the Church Avenue station when they escaped. Her carrying case must not have been correctly secured. They were finally captured Thursday evening at 6:00 PM on an above ground branch of the train system after searchers vainly chased them through the system since 11:06 AM. They photographed them, and they were very cute and healthy-looking. I copied the New York Times article onto a word document and sent it to friends by email and also kept the copy for my personal files.

9:17 AM Back to my book. 3:42 PM I had an unnerving episode with my health today. I went to the library and had to squat down to the lowest shelf to look at the books there. I found one, kind of a heavy one, and pulled it out and when I tried to stand up my knees went totally weak and I couldn't get up. I tried for a minute or so and fell back to the floor. I was breathing very fast and having trouble getting my breath, and my balance was off. A library worker saw me and helped me up. My knees were still weak and wobbly. I leaned up against the library shelves while the library assistant pulled up a chair for me from one of the tables. I managed to get into it and sat for about 5 minutes, after which I could get my breath better and I managed to get up and walk. I went to the circulation desk with difficulty, since my knees were still wobbly, but I checked out my books and went out to the car. Still my knees felt unsteady. I drove straight to my doctor's office. He saw me within 15 or 20 minutes and gave me an EKG. It didn't show arrhythmia, though there were several places where the down stroke went a little farther down than the doctor thought was good. He said that there could be a small part of my heart that wasn't getting enough blood. He wanted me to go straight to the hospital and get a stress test, but I didn't want to for mainly emotional reasons – I didn't want to make a bigger deal about it than was warranted. I also just didn't want to admit that I was having that kind of problem. He said for me to go home and drink a glass of milk and take an aspirin, and he would schedule me next week for a stress test. He said if I have another episode like that to go to the emergency room. So I'm here now, having drunk milk and downed an aspirin, hoping it won't recur. I didn't have any pain at all. I was perspiring profusely, which I understand can be a heart symptom. I have bragged too many times about how healthy I am; now I have to start being careful. It was an impressive event, not something I am likely to forget. I take a pill for high cholesterol, which I only started within the last two to three years, though I consistently had borderline high cholesterol. I hope those years of ignoring the problem didn't cause me to have plaque in my arteries.

4:02 PM Back to my reading. By the way I only got two non-fiction books today – one on the history of dog domestication and other scientific facts about dogs. I have started it already and the writing is as easy to read as a novel, unlike some scientific books. I'll get into it as soon as I finish my novel. The other book I got is a history of Florida hurricanes, which also sounds good. Reading now.

The sky is getting dark and thunder is rumbling outside my window. Maybe we'll have a little action. It was predicted for today and for every day this week. According to the weather map there is a cool front moving down from the north. I hope it isn't persistently cloudy for the whole week. That get's to be a drag. The thunder is closer now. Sounds like fun.

News: Towson University cheerleader's team was suspended for the season for hazing. I wonder what the psychological payoff is for hazing? At any rate, I don't think kind people do it, even children. I am of the opinion that in some ways there are “good” people and “bad” people, at least with the ring leaders of such incidents. True many people, maybe most people, in a group psychology setting will just go along with the crowd, so nobody helps the one being harassed except for the unusually courageous and justice oriented ones. Some things never change, do they?

Goodnight. It's time to eat my melted Swiss cheese and whole grain bread.