We the People (A Letter to Washington)

Yesterday I visited the National Archives on a whim.  It was a grey Tuesday afternoon, and the lines of people usually waiting to get into the Smithsonian museums were not around. The Rotunda, the room in the National Archives where the United States’ founding documents are stored, was practically empty. After grabbing a quick lunch in the cafeteria, I rode the elevator up to the main floor of the Archives, briefly stopped at the Magna Carta display (it was a facsimile; the original will not be on display until March 2012), breezed past the waiting ropes and up a few stairs, and there I was in the Rotunda.  Small groups were clustered around various displays. There was this one small display in the middle that looked very lonely; it looked like it might even be empty (from about 20 feet away, that is).  I walked up to it and just above there was an unobtrusive plaque that simply read “Declaration of Independence”.

Whoa.

There it was.  It does indeed look a couple hundred years old.  I did not try to read it because I did not have to.  The top line boldly declared “In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776” in large print, and towards the bottom I could make out John Hancock’s signature.  Other than being quite faded, the signature looked exactly like the facsimile that I grew up viewing in history books.  In like fashion, I saw the original Constitution and Bill of Rights.  I did not linger over any of the documents – though I could have.  All I would have had to do was wait out the few visitors who were in the room with me.  But I was so elated and stunned at the simple elegance of the presentation that I saw no reason to push the issue, and left the Rotunda to go home no more than ten minutes after entering.

For the record, security officers were present – I believe there were five or six officers in the Rotunda alone – but their presence was dignified and muted, in keeping with the sobriety and precision of the Rotunda.

The Declaration of Independence laying in the open for all to see while surrounded by mostly invisible and impenetrable security gives testimony to what the caretakers of this great nation can accomplish when they properly set their minds to the task. This lesson seems to be lost on a whole bunch of elected officials, who need to stop whining and pouting and get on with the business of making the electorate happy again.

Please.

RAMBLINGS VOL IX

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. Phillippians 4:11

“Be very careful about the goals you set because quite often you achieve them.”  Thomas Powell

It is 4:49 AM Friday morning.  I’m up a little extra early after a good night’s sleep and am ready to go.  I just decided to work out in the gym instead of going for a run; but I’m going to do a load of laundry first.  My body feels rested and there is no pain!  My mind is sharp.  I’m not hungry yet, but I know that the kitchen contains a bounty of healthy food choices.  I’m comfortable knowing that right now I am making a lot more good decisions than bad ones.  I like mornings like this one.

My fantasy baseball team (the Allfive Fingers) is holding its own in the league playoff semi-finals.  We’re up a couple of dingers with three days to play out.  Win or lose, I am proud as a runway mom!

I’ve got Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie in my head at the moment.  I could do a whole lot worse.

Laundry is done, folded and put away.  It’s 7:06AM.  I have decided to skip today’s workout and take a run tomorrow morning.  It is nice to be in a position where I can make that call and not feel the slightest bit of guilt or worry.  Time to say a short prayer of thanks.  I’ll be back….  Okay, I’m back.  It’s about 50-somethng degrees this morning!  AC is turned off.  There is a nice crisp smell to the air.  Summer is turning into fall, and it feels good.

Crazy karma - the social worker at the dialysis ctr just used the

Shakespearean phrase "slings and arrows". That's the name of my fantasy football team. I told her this and she informed me that Visanthe Shiancoe (Minnesota Vikings) is her son!

I was in armchair paradise last night!  I was watching two football games on TV (Boomer Sooner!) while playing two online Scrabble games and also checking on my fantasy baseball team's progress.  And my teams won!

I tested my smartphone’s Internet access from a Starbucks today.  It works as advertised even outside of the store.  This will come in very handy when I am traveling.  And by no means will this be used as an excuse to start wasting money on those frappucinos again.

Today I got super-crabby towards the end of my dialysis session.  Why?  Hunger.  I had a solid breakfast, but had it a little earlier than usual.  And instead of a half-sandwich, piece of fruit and a good-sized snack, I packed only a half-sandwich and a small snack, so I was ravenous by 3PM.  It took a lot of willpower to come directly home, but it was worth it.  I immediately ate a couple of chili dogs (my best batch of chili yet!) and a cookie, and then grabbed the Chinese takeout menu.  I ordered the General Tso’s chicken combo platter and a gyro (no tomato).  The stuff arrived at 6:30 and I got busy immediately.  I made it through the gyro, the egg roll, and a good helping of Gen Tso chicken and fried rice before I stopped.  I can’t pretend that I don’t know why I was so hungry; one look in the mirror tells me why.  I am still adding muscle.  I have to tell the medical staff at the dialysis center to bump up my “dry weight” another kilo to 104 kilograms (about 229 lbs).

Even *nothing* can be done well….

I may have reached the point where I can throttle back a little on my training.  If I do not train today, I will still have worked out 10 of 20 days this month.  I definitely see more definition in a lot of places on my body.  And the success builds on itself as my ego starts to kick in.  It’s a lot easier to turn down that donut now.  As hungry as I was when I arrived home yesterday, I focused on eating good food instead of the big chocolate chip cookies that Hilva left for me.  The important thing now is to find a comfortable training level.  I am famous for my “all or nothing” attitude, and if I don’t watch it I’ll be looking at myself in the mirror in six months wondering what the hell happened.

Sometimes while in the kitchen I think up something that I want to write down, and by the time I get back to my computer I forget what that one thing is.  This is one of those times.

It is almost exactly one week after I started this volume of ramblings.  Today is my dad’s birthday.  RIP David White Sr.  I love to think about why he taught me to play chess instead of basketball.

Among other things, during this morning’s workout I did 40 push-ups, took a quick break, and did 40 more.  That was pretty cool. 

Just like last Friday, so far I am having a damn fine morning!

My fantasy baseball team, the Allfive Fingers, won last week’s semifinal by outscoring the best team in the league.  As of right now we have a 20-plus-point lead in the finals with three days to play.  Anything can happen, but I just know that the Fingers are going to win.

I am currently playing “Hip Hop” by Dead Prez.  It is a thug beat.  I like it a lot.

So far this has been a very interesting Saturday.  It is 1:30PM and I have not yet watched a single minute of college football.  I’m not exercising today because I’ve worked out four days in a row and my body has put the brakes on exercising for at least a day or so.  There’s little food in the pantry simply because it’s that time of the month, but I still have food to eat.  I have a couple of sources of money if I really need to buy something, but I’m pretending that I don’t.  The big question:  do I brave the rainy weather and take a trip to the supermarket?  The answer:  Yes, of course I do.  I need protein.

It is Sunday morning and I am in rare form.  Well, I am in what used to be rare form; it is now a more common occurrence.  My neck still hurts, but my mind is razor-sharp and I am in a good mood regardless.  I’ve already solved one mystery, and also discovered that my B-complex vitamin supplement bottle has a pop top – I no longer have to unscrew the cap every morning.  I did not go to the supermarket yesterday, and I just decided that I’m not going to go today either.  I will make do with cold cereal, cold cuts and scrambled eggs until hunger sends me down to the convenience store on the “terrace” (read basement) level of the apartment complex.  So what’s next?  A big bowl of Corn Flakes and Frosted Flakes and a game of Scrabble.  I’ll be back….

My big brother Owen told me two things that stick out in my mind.  Number one:  You have the rest of your life to cross the street.  Number two:  When you get older, you will notice all the ladies looking at you in a certain way.  I understood number one immediately, and it has saved my life at least once.  After many years, I now see evidence of number two every single day.  And it feels pretty good.  But where they hell were they when I needed them?

Answer:  they were right there.

RAMBLINGS VOL VIII

I am giving Kindle Scrabble a good game more often than not on the Hard level.  The tables are turning.  I'm using its ridiculously arcane words against it, just like I would on the basketball court or the chess board.  And there are only so many seven- and eight-letter words out there. 

Those who listen to instruction will prosper; those who trust the Lord will be joyful. Proverbs 16:20

My latest new gadget is a wireless keyboard.  It’s my second one; the first died many months ago.  This one is lighter, has a much better feel, has many more functions, and cost less than half as much as the one I bought four or five years ago.  My bedroom is no longer an occupational hazard!

As of last night, Master Chef Dave can cook pork chops.  Yummmmmmbaby!  I cooked up six Tuesday evening; they were gone by Thursday evening.  Thank goodness I bought two packs – and thank goodness for BOGO (buy one get one free)!  Welcome to the protein stable, pork chops!

Yesterday I resolved to learn someone’s name.  I decided it should be the receptionist at K Street Dialysis.  She is unfailingly polite and yeah, OK, she’s good-looking, too.  So what?  I briefly puzzled over how to do this, and then I said screw it and knocked on her door so I could ask her.  She was wearing a nametag that said “Rhona”.  Job well done!  On to the next task.

I know just about all of the dialysis center employees’ names now, and they all know “Mr. White”.

I was looking forward to my run this morning, so of course this was the one morning that I woke up late (7AM).  Today is an off-day for me (no dialysis), so I had more than enough time to get a run in anyway, but I decided not to.  Sleeping until 7AM is a rarity for me nowadays, so I took it as a signal that my body needs a break from the exercise.  Normally over the course of a month my body will put the brakes on working out at some point and I won’t be able to do it for as long as a week, but that did not happen during the month of August.  This is definitely a good sign!  I am slowly rounding back into form.

I like writing with blue ink.  I don’t care what the black ink people think….

September is a critical month as far as planning goes.  Basically, if it’s going to happen this year, I need to get it going right now.  My strategy is to assume the worst and prepare accordingly; wish me luck.  [good luck, Dave!]

I beat Kindle Scrabble three times yesterday.  I beat it on the way to dialysis, I split two games with it during dialysis, and I beat it on the way home after dialysis!  The last win was the best because I am literally drained as I travel home from having 10-12 pounds of liquid removed from my body.  Two of the wins came on my final play.  You know what?  A win is a win is a win.  I used the word *doyenne* in Scrabble yesterday.  Where the hell did that come from?

Every once in a while, you have to take a deep breath and step into the void.

You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.”  -- Margaret Thatcher

Today started off with a really riveting hamstring cramp.  If you’ve had one, you know it’s five to ten minutes of agony, and then it’s cool as long as you don’t make the same movement for a while.  This is the second one in a couple of weeks; I’ll have to keep an eye on this situation as it happens the morning after a dialysis session.  This also caused me to remember that it wasn’t that long ago that I was unable to have hammy cramps because I had no leg muscles due to malnutrition and anemia.  So all in all I can’t complain…..  I’ll know that my hammys and quads are all the way back when I am once again way faster than I look.  Right now I’m just faster than I look.

“Success is liking yourself.... liking what you do….and liking how you do it....”  Maya Angelou

Asparagus dip is delicious, especially with honey wheat pretzel sticks.

I got all excited when I saw that McDonald’s is selling its Sausage McMuffin with Egg for 2/$3.00 for a limited time.  I then calmed down and remembered that (a) I don’t eat breakfast on the run anymore, and (b) my own sausage and egg combo costs a lot less than $1.50 per sandwich.  So why am I all hyped over Mickey D’s?  Could it be … sugar?

My smartphone just reminded me that the NASCAR race was rescheduled and is starting right now!!!  Damn – I already missed the first spinout!

67 consecutive push-ups last night!  I think it’s safe to say that I can start focusing on sit-ups and running.

The college and football seasons have officially begun, and serious pizza questions need to be asked.  No pizza at all?  One with everything on my birthday?  Or for the New Year?  Is pizza with no tomato sauce tasty?  I need to develop a list of pizza substitutes immediately. 

Today is 9/9/11.  In two days we mark the ten-year anniversary of 9/11.  I had briefly thought about doing something silly like 911 push-ups on that day, but there’s no way I am going to trivialize the sobriety of this event with any individual puffery.  I plan to live my life as normally as possible by working out and watching plenty of football.  I may even break from my diet and order a pizza.

I have had my new printer for over a month now, and I have dusted it almost as often as I have used it to print.  I’m sure this will change, but it’s interesting to note how quickly I adjusted to not being able to print.  My writing has suffered some, I’m sure.  On the bright side, this printer can print photos without special ink.

Do good instead of evil and try to live at peace.  Psalm 34:14

Today is 9.11.11.  I worked out this morning, then walked to McDonald’s to get a cheap lunch, got a cheap breakfast instead, and walked back home.  It is now time to watch football.  I’ll have two Sausage McMuffins w/Egg for lunch.  Dinner?  Pork chop party!

My fantasy baseball team is 15-8 heading into the playoffs!  It’s my very first fantasy team in any sport.  A lot of it is pure luck, but there are plenty of opportunities to make your own breaks, and I take advantage of many of them.  If I win the league championship, my team, the “Allfive Fingers”, will get to play against the other champions for a grand prize of $10,000.  Hey, stranger things have happened:  we just had lightning storms, an earthquake, a hurricane, and major flooding within about a 15-18 day period….

OK, let’s put modesty aside for a second.  I am fit.  I can look in the mirror and nod approval.  And I’m not done yet.  I want the world to know that kidney failure is not a reason to write people off.

Stand up for what you believe in – even if it means standing alone.