I am waiting for someone to answer Kaiser Permanente’s phone. I am trying to reach Dermatology. Not only does the phone ring, it sings. The on-hold music is so repetitively familiar that I feel like humming it when someone finally answers. In fact, when a receptionist appears, I want to chirp ”how can I help you?” Unless the person at the other end is naturally attuned to the surreal, this greeting should set up a cascade of confusion. Never mind. I finally get through, and the receptionist Read more [...]

The day dawned bright and, yes, a bit too bright. One could sense this even at 8:30 AM. Stiil, I was delighted. Fog shrouds San Francisco persistently and in a way the challenges the spirit. At least mine is challenged. And let me point out that I spent four years in London, where in my first June the temperature never got out of the 50s Fahrenheit. So, I should know better. But I don’t. Or to put a much sharper introspective point on it, my spirits are challenged in general. I headed out for Read more [...]

Or more precisely, lower lower back.  My entire spine is shot.  The cervical region literally, of course. In fact there are still enough bullet fragments in my neck to have forced the cancellation of a recent MRI. I protested only mildly. Frankly, impersonating a torpedo is not my favorite activity. Instead, I have a CT scan showing orthopedic collapse up and down the bony column. Why? Don’t know, but years of sitting, combined with not only weak but uneven musculature, probably Read more [...]

Edward Lewis Wallant has not disappointed. In fact, his ”The Tenants of Moonbloom” has proven richly satisfying…in its depiction of a life on hold. Contrast this with the sort of video crap I watch in the morning while on the exercycle. Here it’s all action. Chase scenes, bullets flying, anything to get the adrenaline up and distract from watching the clock. Half an hour is all I can stand. And it’s exactly what I need. On this particular morning, I found it very difficult to sustain 30 Read more [...]

This mortal coil may be dwindling, but my wheelchair batteries are not. And thus one sets out on a Monday for that place which is Cup. Sam, the proprietor, greets me as always. And I roll outside to an awkward situation. The sidewalk features three of Sam’s tables, two adjacent, and one blocked by a sort of planter/partition. I elect to be on the right side of the latter, COVID-19 figuring prominently in my calculus. The problem is the man at the table on the other side of the partition. I don’t Read more [...]

Well, I must say that what a difference a day makes. This day dawned not quite so brightly as yesterday. Of course, I headed down the hill, the great downslope of life, toward that which lies below, vis-à-vis, mercantile San Francisco. Shopping. For most Americans, when there is no other social activity available, there is the need to buy. So armed with Jane’s list, off I went. The world should be full of promise at 8:30 AM. Why not? Things are opening, getting under way, hope springing eternal. Read more [...]