Good morning lit’l’ school girl

I dutifully dragged myself from a nice warm bed at 0’dark-thirty this morning to shower, shave, and caffeinate for the drive into Johnson City so the good folks at VA could examine my eyes.
I was diagnosed with glaucoma in 1998. Welcome to 50 years of age! I have had two laser surgeries, iridotomies, performed to act as pressure relief valves, and dispense two different ophthalmic drops into my eyes each day in order to prevent loss of any more peripheral vision than I have already lost. Just as I make it a point never to miss my anti-hypertensives, I also religiously use my eye drops.


This morning’s visit was to have my intra-ocular pressures checked and recorded. As I also have some uncorrected astigmatism, a new set of glasses is also in order. My current set was purchased with an anti-glare coating. This coating apparently makes them next to impossible to clean. The new set will not have such a coating. I hope that this will not hamper my ability to drive at night. Glare has always been a serious problem for me to contend with while playing right field or driving.

The VA waiting rooms seem to have all their TVs permanently locked into the Fox News channel. That is sufficiently bothersome. Even worse, most of the people who sit and stare at the screens seem to believe the brand of bullshit excreted by Fox’s commentators.

Today, while waiting my turn, I learned that “Rush Limbaugh actually does good interviews.” – the commentator providing this gem couldn’t wait for Sarah Palin to quit talking to the “Main Stream Media” and let Limbaugh help her tell her tale of a small town woman wronged by the Liberals and (unsaid but lurking, the IJC.. I learned that “all the Main Stream Media” will treat Palin just as Couric did.”

I saw no problem in the Couric-Palin encounters save that Couric failed to gut and field dress Palin after she caught her in the headlights.

There is nothing about military service that causes one to lose intellectual capacity. Yet, almost all the veterans I meet in these hospitals are ensnared by the Fox/Tea Party, Theocrat axis of stupidity.

Gloria met me in town for lunch and we finished up our registration at ETSU today. After 36 years I have a student ID card again. So does Gloria. We have our parking stickers to show we belong on the campus periphery. One of my text books arrived by UPS yesterday. I’m really eager to begin these classes.

There was a young woman in front of us this afternoon as we waited in the wrong line. She was wearing orange sweatpants which had fallen or been pulled half-way down her buttocks. We were prevented from seeing any skin by what appeared to be Christmas-themed long underwear bottoms. The bottoms of her sweat pants were covering her heels and feet. On her feet were flip-flops so badly worn down as to provide only an invitation to tripping and falling. She is obviously as oblivious to fashion as am I; but I always wear shoes that provide support and protection, and the color/pattern/presence of any underwear remains my secret of the day.

I’m not forgetful of how our generation adopted comfort and casual when possible, often to our parents' displeasure. I’m sure, however, that there will be further commentary concerning clothing and apparent fashion on campus. Stay tuned.

Of course, the faces we saw today were incredibly young. We age, not fully seeing ourselves age. There’s still a bit of the me who, at 20, worked against the war that was soon to engulf me, and that me who believed so fully in the 1st amendment that I defied – quite unsuccessfully- a Midwestern land-grant university. Gloria still wakes up and sees the young woman who danced five days a week, who drove a plant store on wheels, looking at her in the mirror. Seeing those images smiling at us from behind is a good thing to experience. Those are friendly ghosts. For too many years the only “me” ghost I saw was the one that I never wanted to see in front of me. No longer a problem!

Good mornin’, lit’l’ school girl; I’m a lit’l’ school boy, too!