It has been 25 years – do you remember where you were? I’ll get to more on that topic later.
I am still hurting today, but that is somewhat expected. Usually when I push myself like I did Monday, it takes about a week for the pain to subside. Of course, this is not something I enjoy but I will occasionally push through for whatever project I’m working on.
Since I made the pickles incorrectly, and I still really want them, I’m thinking of doing another batch this weekend. That said, I certainly do not want to have a week like this again, so I figured I’d assess what changes I need to make to avoid this pain again.
For starters, I need to stand straight and not hunch to do the work. Part of that is just the height of our counters, but I can afford to be more disciplined in my posture. I can also get a lower stool to sit on so I won’t have to lean down quite as much.
I also need to take more breaks and not work straight through. That need will be somewhat mitigated by correcting my posture, but taking more breaks will still be necessary. Proper preparation will help, and then I can break between steps instead of needing to scramble to keep up. That will also make the whole process easier (and cleaner), as I won’t need to use every square inch of available surface for prep work.
I also need to hydrate! Keeping myself hydrated is one of the simplest ways to help keep the pain levels down and avoid the back strain that is currently agitating the nerve pain. Looking back, I don’t think I drank anything at all over the several hours I worked on this. That was a mistake, and I will not let it happen again.
I’m pretty sure that if I just follow those three steps, the process will go a lot smoother, and a lot less painfully in the end.
And now for something completely different…
‘Cause I remember all those years…
25 years ago, there was a terrorist attack on United States soil, as I am sure you remember. (And if you don’t remember, how old are you and how did you stumble on this site?) At the time, while I still leaned libertarian, I fell into the camp of “might makes right” and was gung ho about retaliation. Since then, more information has been declassified and released, and while I still feel retaliation was appropriate, I do feel we retaliated against the wrong people.
We now know that Saudi Arabia was certainly involved in some manner. More information has come out about the “dancing Israelis” and that the investigation into them was quashed by the Bush administration and they were quickly shuffled out of the country. We also know that the PATRIOT Act, which was absolutely and positively needed to keep us safe but would never ever be used against citizens, indeed would be used against citizens. Oh, and apparently a building just needs to be near others on fire to come down on its own.
Hindsight is 20/20, yeah?
While I had some concerns about the PATRIOT Act, I did support it at the time. I thought the sunset provisions would keep any abuse of civil liberties in check, and our government wasn’t that evil.
Boy, was I wrong. I keep thinking of the Benjamin Franklin quote about liberty and security, and I sure screwed the pooch on that.
Read that again: “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” We gave up a lot of liberty, and it is unlikely we will see it again.
We gave it up willingly, but what did we get in return? Our government is more corrupt than ever. Our civil rights are eroding before our eyes. The “safety” received is just performative and really just boils down to feelings – and removing shoes at the airport.
Keep all this in mind the next time there is some big catastrophic event. Remember what has been done to us in the name of “safety.” I’d much prefer to keep our liberty and provide our own safety. After all, giving it up means we deserve neither…
Song of the day: Nothingman by Pearl Jam
Leave a Reply