Little Nuisances

Life is full of little nuisances, aggravations, pains in the ass; there’s no escaping them.  Some are intentional, some never end, and some are good for you.   Like buying a house; every…single…month I’m stroking a check to pay the bank, insurance, taxes, maintenance, and repairs.   It’s a pain in the ass, but you still own a home.  Child raising is another; the headaches never seem to end except years later when you have grandkids. Then we become nuisances to our children giving out silly child rearing advice.  “We didn’t use bike helmets back then; if you fell down it knocked some sense into you.”  Similarly, healthcare has tons of little nuisances; all of which we should follow, but most we avoid like the plague.  They’re not that hard to follow.

My sister Sheila grew up with three nuisances; my brothers Mark, Chris, and I. We were relentless, Sheila never caught a break, we were constant irritations.  We’d plug her hair dryer and radio into the bedroom light switch so when she turned her lights on the radio would blast and the hair dryer would blow in her face.  We had a spud gun which shot potato pieces into her hair when she was sleeping.  One morning my hamster and I locked her outside.  She was yelling at the hamster and I to let her in; but the hamster refused.  So Sheila punched me and the hamster in the face through the front door window.  Don’t aggravate women from the Adirondacks, especially if you’re a hamster.

There are bundles of healthcare nuisances we hate.  I can’t stand weekly blood draws at the oncology office, but they tell me whether I’m going south or not.  With modern inexpensive technology you can take your own blood pressure, temperature, and oxygen saturation everyday without going to the doctor’s office.  Few take the time to do this; God forbid that would cut into TikTok.   I dread going to the dentist twice a year; although I told my dentist Dr. Linden recently I’d rather have root canal then attend another HOA Board meeting.  (HOAs are awful).   Last year my esophagus was nearly shut, so taking pills twice a day was a nuisance.  Some nights I got so tired trying to swallow pills I’d give up and go to bed instead.  I did that on occasion, but I knew I couldn’t do that everyday.  As a result, my diet has changed over the past year; so I got cancelled as a spokesman for the National Beef Association. Vegans, however, are now pounding on the door.

We have plenty of nuisances to quickly improve your well being, while at the same time the world is full of never ending jerks.  For people nuisances, whether they are family, friends, or foes avoid them like bad neighborhoods.  Nothing requires you to keep nuisances in your life.  Your everyday life is better when you boot the nuisances out.  Who cares if a nuisance never darkens your door or sends another Christmas card? As for Sheila and I, we are very close in spite of the hamster being a nuisance.  “It wasn’t me it was him.”  In hindsight I truly appreciate Sheila not booting me years ago even after I wacked her with that hammer. Slainte.