Story 19March2022: Mix Bag

I managed to sleep only four hours of any consequence. I was up at 8:30ish.

I managed to get dressed and write the blog without any issues. But then realized I had not taken my pills at noon! I had missed a dose in cycle 2, which is how this happens. I just get going and just forget that 10AM went by. So I took the dose at noon and immediately felt the impact. I was back to that nervous, shaking feeling.

Being already late, I drove to see Susie in Room 44A at the Forest Grove Rehab and Care Center. I then found my first ever traffic jam to Forest Grove. For forty minutes, I was stalled in stop-and-go traffic on TV Highway (which later connects to 3900 Pacific Highway). I found no cause for the stall, and it took a long time to clear all the lights in TV Highway. The surprise mess did not improve the driving, with many cars suddenly changing lanes and doing U-turns.

A couple of cars rev-d loudly and then slammed into lanes showing great frustrations. I often see these cars, smaller with dark windows and interesting modifications, suddenly accelerating and even racing on the TV highway.

When I reached the turn for the facility, a muscle car decided to drive around me and then went down the Pacific Highway turning lane with a lot of noise and bravado. Apparently, the turning signal did not convince the driver I was turning, so the driver passed me in the turning lane as I was entering it. Luckily, we both were talented enough drivers to avoid an impact. Air Volvo was very busy telling me about these things as they happened.

I forgot to take a picture of Susie on Saturday. I was feeling less and less well from the side effects. So we called Leta, Susie’s mom, and Glenda and Gene, Susie’s Aunt and Uncle in North Carolina, and used FaceTime to chat for a while.

Susie was yawning, and I felt less and less good, so it was a short visit.

The traffic was still heavy for a Saturday. I drove over to Sonics closer to my house and then waited another 45 minutes to get a foot-long Connie Island. Everywhere was slow and full of cars. The hot dog was well cooked. It must have spent a long time on the rolling cooker. The food helped a bit, but I still felt unwell and returned directly to the Volvo Cave.

I closed my eyes for just a moment, and it was 6PM. My body could not make up its mind if I would throw up or rush to the bathroom. So instead, I ordered dinner, this time on my dime, from BJ’s and shared a rack of ribs with Corwin. I had 1/2 of the baked potato and a few ribs. I was not really liking food at the time.

I purchased the 1968 SciFi movie Project X. This is a paranoid anti-China film where the West must unlock a secret in a mind in 14 days to learn the insidious plan that the East will use to destroy the West. I had remembered this film today and wanted to see what it was like–I used to watch all the SciFi films on Saturday afternoons in the 1970s on a local channel. In the film, there are many strange psychedelic effects, and a peculiar mix of the 1960s version of the year 2118 will look like. The year 2118, from this movie’s view, has everything as old fashion switch, nob, or needle display, and there are no cell phones. But, we can wear see-through helmets and reprogram minds in the future. A terrible film made in the same year as 2001 A Space Odyssey.

After that, I tried to sleep. I had no luck and was up with various side effects until 4AM. I read more Americana that covered Nike and the clash of cultures around hip hop and gangster rap. I recommend this book.