January 12: Into the Ditch...

Steps: 17,146

Activity: Morning hike with the dogs. Stacking wood and various yard work.

Weight: Down 3.7 pounds since the New Year.

Book: Half Earth: Our Planets Fight for Life by Edward Wilson

Up early this morning, things seemed rather hopeful. I had my weekly conference call with all the Behavioral Health Nurses on the West Coast in my company. Then the dogs and I took a long hike, extending our range ever further. Got ready for work and left only to encounter a phone company truck putting up a telephone pole (and hurray for those who still have land lines!). The truck had the road blocked, and it looked like it would be a half hour or longer before they would be done. So I decided to back up down the road and go home until the telephone work was done.

I'm not sure how I did it, but I managed to back into the ditch. The photo above doesn't quite capture just how bad it was. So I called AAA. Waited in the rain (it's been raining for weeks now). By the time the tow truck arrived and we got the car out of the mud, I was soaked, cold, miserable, and muddy. I drove the car to Chico just to make sure there wasn't any damage, mud and rocks falling-out from underneath the car as I drove. I had a mechanic friend make sure there wasn't any damage.

And that was my day. I didn't see any clients. This hasn't been one of my most productive weeks, work wise.

And on the world front? The Republicans seem hell bent on tossing 25 million people off of health insurance. I don't think they quite realize how much the economy is based on health care. Cutting health care now will stagnate the economy and toss us into a recession. Our economy is dependent upon health care (17% of GDP) which is now one of the biggest sectors. My hometown of Rushford used to be dependent upon a factory. That factory closed so now the town is dependent upon being a bedroom community---as many people drive to their jobs in healthcare in Rochester, Lacrosse, Winona. Nobody talks about the economic effects of doing away with Obamacare. Well, they are huge. My job is dependent upon it. Any decrease in healthcare spending will be fatal in more ways than one: People will die; the economy will tank. It is as simple as that.