Happy Memorial Day, dear readers! I hope you all are spending your national holiday outside, preferably poolside, with a cocktail and some sort of grilled meat (or faux meat, for my veg friends). Or perhaps more reverently, placing bouquets on a loved one's grave.
I have spent mine so far in bed, or weeding out my email inbox, still full of "unread" messages transferred from my stolaf.edu account. The irony here is that they have ALL been read at some point, but still are marked bold for attention. I suppose this is a somewhat fitting way to spend Memorial Day, as I am unearthing a ton of messages that start me reminiscing about countless group projects in college, hilarious web videos, stumbleupon suggestions, emails planning meetings to plan spring break or interim trips. It feels like a barrage of time capsules catapulted into my present from another dimension.
That being said, it is one day short of one year since St. Olaf's Class of 2011 walked the stage in commencement of this next year of our lives. And therefore one day short of one year since I have been writing on this blog.
I don't think that's real.
Best of luck, though, to the Class of 2012, who yesterday embarked on the same journey I and my classmates have taken by the horns over the past year, and will continue to conquer in the months and years ahead.
That being said, I don't plan on sitting here all day. It's apparently 90 degrees outside, and I have plans to hit up a barbecue later this afternoon. I will not be eating burgers and drinking Summer Shandy this evening, however, because I got my wisdom teeth out on Friday and have spent the holiday weekend recovering. Which mostly entails watching tons of movies, planning my day around taking meds (although I have happily avoided the hardcore painkillers), trying to avoid busting my stitches by being perpetually unsatisfied on the hunger front, sleeping all day and then feeling restless and guilty about it. My ancestors are the type to break their hips and get back on the ladder a mere 6 weeks later, but I have apparently inherited the recessive whining and moping genes.
I hate sitting around.
I also hate not being able to distinguish the taste of blood from salt water, having to make that distinction in the first place, and not being able to open my mouth more than I need to put a spoon between my lips.
It gives me an appreciation for good health.
Also, it's upsetting how much I've spent on medical bills this year. Between me and my car, my medical bills easily outpace my student loans--which is particularly upsetting since I just looked at them yesterday and, although I've been making payments for 6 months, they have hardly a dent in their individual amounts. I would love to be able to skip getting my wisdom teeth pulled and instead direct that money to knocking out a couple hundred off my highest-interest loan.
This is a notable part of post-grad life. Like more than a few college students, I would imagine, I literally did not go to the dentist for over 4 years. Nor did I get any regular checkup by a GP or family doctor. I went to the health center on campus a few times, until I realized I rarely left there feeling more confident about my health than when I went in. I went to the eye doctor maybe once or twice, but only because I had to if I wanted to order more contacts. Which I definitely did. I still wear the same shitty glasses I ordered online freshman year of college, and I wear them as infrequently as possible.
I'll tell you why this is upsetting. The bill for getting my four wisdom teeth extracted, even after 80% of the surgery was covered by my insurance, still exceeds what I make in two weeks at work. That's after taxes, but not counting bills I have to pay, and gas three times a month. And I have a good job, and my dad's insurance, and I live at home. I know that there are families in this country who get no benefits, possibly don't have health insurance at all, and whose mediocre wages must cover food, rent, and healthcare for multiple children. My wisdom teeth were already starting to give me headaches and to make my jaw hurt. I have no doubt that if I left them in much longer my life would get a lot more miserable in a hurry.
And yet it's probably going to take me at least a month and a half to pay off that surgery plus my hand, and I need to get the timing belt replaced in my car ASAP, and definitely before the summer's over. There are other things I need to pay for as well, and I would love to knock some off my loans, and I was hoping to move out by the end of the summer. My social life has already taken a bit of a hit from these financial straits, because I've had to prioritize, and this is something I will need to keep in mind moving forward.
Medicine and healthcare is a capitalist system, at least in this country, and in my opinion they are not widely considered as such. Public health falls into an odd crack between services and industry, although it's not alone down there. In an ideal world, we could all take care of ourselves, and take care of other members of our communities, and we could avoid getting into sticky situations with our health, and get out of sticky situations when they do arise inevitably. Money wouldn't play such a giant role in whether or not we can afford to get care right now, or whether we are taking the appropriate steps to care for ourselves before an issue comes up. Not to mention the real and apparent impacts of money worries on our health itself, and the fact that this type of stress can, at the very least, slow our recovery processes.
I know finances are a bit of a touchy subject, and for many reasons you don't want to know too much about mine, but it's a big part of post-grad life, one of the many ever-present factors we have to think about as we navigate this territory. And it has been on my mind a lot this weekend, and last week leading up to the extraction.
That, and are the gaping holes in the back of my mouth bleeding, and what can I eat.
I am so unamused.
Also, I still look vaguely like a chipmunk.
Today I have not felt like eating at all, which is not a good idea because I really need to keep my energy up if I am ever going to heal... But I suddenly got a hankering for Bon Apetit's cold strawberry soup. I used to wait for this every spring, and it was all I could do to resist the urge to consume at least one entire tray of cups, bowls, and mugs full of the stuff.
I didn't quite pull off a perfect imitation of the caf version, but it was close enough.
Cheers to you, dear readers. Happy Memorial Day. Be safe, be happy, be reverent but not too reverent, appreciate your good health and, just for today, shove the ledger out of sight, out of mind.
My best wishes to you and your loved ones, and congratulations as we "commence" living the next segment of our lives.
I have spent mine so far in bed, or weeding out my email inbox, still full of "unread" messages transferred from my stolaf.edu account. The irony here is that they have ALL been read at some point, but still are marked bold for attention. I suppose this is a somewhat fitting way to spend Memorial Day, as I am unearthing a ton of messages that start me reminiscing about countless group projects in college, hilarious web videos, stumbleupon suggestions, emails planning meetings to plan spring break or interim trips. It feels like a barrage of time capsules catapulted into my present from another dimension.
That being said, it is one day short of one year since St. Olaf's Class of 2011 walked the stage in commencement of this next year of our lives. And therefore one day short of one year since I have been writing on this blog.
I don't think that's real.
Best of luck, though, to the Class of 2012, who yesterday embarked on the same journey I and my classmates have taken by the horns over the past year, and will continue to conquer in the months and years ahead.
That being said, I don't plan on sitting here all day. It's apparently 90 degrees outside, and I have plans to hit up a barbecue later this afternoon. I will not be eating burgers and drinking Summer Shandy this evening, however, because I got my wisdom teeth out on Friday and have spent the holiday weekend recovering. Which mostly entails watching tons of movies, planning my day around taking meds (although I have happily avoided the hardcore painkillers), trying to avoid busting my stitches by being perpetually unsatisfied on the hunger front, sleeping all day and then feeling restless and guilty about it. My ancestors are the type to break their hips and get back on the ladder a mere 6 weeks later, but I have apparently inherited the recessive whining and moping genes.
I hate sitting around.
I also hate not being able to distinguish the taste of blood from salt water, having to make that distinction in the first place, and not being able to open my mouth more than I need to put a spoon between my lips.
It gives me an appreciation for good health.
Also, it's upsetting how much I've spent on medical bills this year. Between me and my car, my medical bills easily outpace my student loans--which is particularly upsetting since I just looked at them yesterday and, although I've been making payments for 6 months, they have hardly a dent in their individual amounts. I would love to be able to skip getting my wisdom teeth pulled and instead direct that money to knocking out a couple hundred off my highest-interest loan.
This is a notable part of post-grad life. Like more than a few college students, I would imagine, I literally did not go to the dentist for over 4 years. Nor did I get any regular checkup by a GP or family doctor. I went to the health center on campus a few times, until I realized I rarely left there feeling more confident about my health than when I went in. I went to the eye doctor maybe once or twice, but only because I had to if I wanted to order more contacts. Which I definitely did. I still wear the same shitty glasses I ordered online freshman year of college, and I wear them as infrequently as possible.
I'll tell you why this is upsetting. The bill for getting my four wisdom teeth extracted, even after 80% of the surgery was covered by my insurance, still exceeds what I make in two weeks at work. That's after taxes, but not counting bills I have to pay, and gas three times a month. And I have a good job, and my dad's insurance, and I live at home. I know that there are families in this country who get no benefits, possibly don't have health insurance at all, and whose mediocre wages must cover food, rent, and healthcare for multiple children. My wisdom teeth were already starting to give me headaches and to make my jaw hurt. I have no doubt that if I left them in much longer my life would get a lot more miserable in a hurry.
And yet it's probably going to take me at least a month and a half to pay off that surgery plus my hand, and I need to get the timing belt replaced in my car ASAP, and definitely before the summer's over. There are other things I need to pay for as well, and I would love to knock some off my loans, and I was hoping to move out by the end of the summer. My social life has already taken a bit of a hit from these financial straits, because I've had to prioritize, and this is something I will need to keep in mind moving forward.
Medicine and healthcare is a capitalist system, at least in this country, and in my opinion they are not widely considered as such. Public health falls into an odd crack between services and industry, although it's not alone down there. In an ideal world, we could all take care of ourselves, and take care of other members of our communities, and we could avoid getting into sticky situations with our health, and get out of sticky situations when they do arise inevitably. Money wouldn't play such a giant role in whether or not we can afford to get care right now, or whether we are taking the appropriate steps to care for ourselves before an issue comes up. Not to mention the real and apparent impacts of money worries on our health itself, and the fact that this type of stress can, at the very least, slow our recovery processes.
I know finances are a bit of a touchy subject, and for many reasons you don't want to know too much about mine, but it's a big part of post-grad life, one of the many ever-present factors we have to think about as we navigate this territory. And it has been on my mind a lot this weekend, and last week leading up to the extraction.
That, and are the gaping holes in the back of my mouth bleeding, and what can I eat.
I am so unamused.
Also, I still look vaguely like a chipmunk.
Today I have not felt like eating at all, which is not a good idea because I really need to keep my energy up if I am ever going to heal... But I suddenly got a hankering for Bon Apetit's cold strawberry soup. I used to wait for this every spring, and it was all I could do to resist the urge to consume at least one entire tray of cups, bowls, and mugs full of the stuff.
I didn't quite pull off a perfect imitation of the caf version, but it was close enough.Cheers to you, dear readers. Happy Memorial Day. Be safe, be happy, be reverent but not too reverent, appreciate your good health and, just for today, shove the ledger out of sight, out of mind.
My best wishes to you and your loved ones, and congratulations as we "commence" living the next segment of our lives.
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