re: #208 CuriousLurker

Heh, you don’t always say a lot, but when you do it almost always makes me either rethink what I thought before (assuming I understand it—sometimes it’s way over my head) or giggle due to your unvarnished honesty.

Thanks.

Watch that hypertension ‘cause I want you to be around for a good long while, okay? ;)

I do. It’s 110/70 now and I take the meds very seriously. They’re one of the few items I actually stash in case of emergency, have a two year supply saved right now.

The hypertension is inherited from my Dad, we both watch our sodium intake and diet, no known cause. I’m slightly on the plus side weight wise, but nothing that explains hitting 220/180. It hit and escalated fast too, and right at the worst time in my life, soon after my divorce was finalized. That’s how I lost my previous insurance coverage and by the time I’d gotten my shit together I couldn’t qualify for anything on my own. The crisis wiped me out financially, which wasn’t hard, so I got myself certified indigent and let Santa Barbara county take care of me.

This is why the healthcare debate is so personal for me, I’ve been at the bottom. I’ve had a social worker. I’ve stood in line with the poorest of the poor at the county clinic. I’ve been a financial parasite on society and carry zero shame because that’s what kept me alive and prevented me from being crushed forever under ridiculous amounts of medical debt. The experience was also invaluable in letting me see the true faces of many people in my life, taught me who I could trust and who I couldn’t.

Oh, and remind me never to pick a fight with you!

I don’t get in fights with ex-cab drivers. A man’s got to know his limitations.