❦ The medium rare hamburger — was great! Any bacteria present wandered into the dark, cold, and perilous biome that is my body. A nightmare alley for both friend and foe. Over the next two hours I chatted with several people, sometimes in a group. We discussed the water level of the dam. Future weather. Forest fires. Covid vaccinations. Social dissent. Obviously these are getting to meaty topics, and coming from one of the wealthiest and highest-vaccination-rate counties of the US, this could go sideways really quickly. But I admit I haven't been vaccinated… I don't believe masks help me or prevent me from infecting others… and I have had disagreements with the US government. All of these are true statements, but are likely interpreted differently than the details and my real beliefs would support. I also intentionally don't mention exactly where I live. That plus my bright yellow worker's jacket seems to help me break through a few layers of the onion that is growing here and inch a little closer to the heart of the rebellion. With that seed planted, I head back home to the black hole that keeps me alive.
❧❧❧ The machines and tubes — make more sense to me now. I have a feeding and drug-injection tube. This appears to go all the way down to my stomach or intestines. Nurses play with that a few times a day to give me drugs, and the feeding tube is pumping almost continuously. I also have a trialysis catheter inserted into my neck, which enables something called dialysis along with other things. Apparently dialysis is replacing my kidneys… which have decided not to work anymore. I also have tubes for things to 'leave', but very little seems to be moving through them. I want to go to the bathroom, but apparently that is not an option. Would 'unwiring' me be too difficult? -9-
