It's hot again

 * I don't feel great. It got hot again all of a sudden, and I think I pulled a muscle in my neck, and I kind of hurt all over. And at any rate: high air pressure, high heat, and high humidity make me hurt. We're supposed to have this for at least 2 weeks and it might hit 105F on Friday. 

And my allergies are really bad. I actually tested to be sure I didn't have COVID after sneezing my way through a day (negative, and I never popped a fever, and eventually the sneezing cleared up.) But I think there's a ton of dust in the air and there's only so much the air filters can do. 

* I also have what I think is poison ivy close to one eye. I popped a hive on one eyelid and I thought it was allergies but now I wonder; it's stuck around several days. I'm not going to consider going and getting a cortisone shot (they do those, apparently) because it seems to be healing on its own; it's just an annoyance.

* I asked at the pharmacy about the shingles shot. it's free with my insurance but I need to wait a few days (at least) for the poison ivy to go away more before challenging my immune system again. 

* Driving back, I had a bad interaction. There's an intersection where I need to turn left to get home, but the stoplight does not have a left turn light - you have to wait for it to be green and then the oncoming cars to clear (it's a side street from a small set of businesses). Well, today there were MANY cars and I had to sit through the whole cycle and it turned yellow just as the last car started through. Now, granted, there was a gap between the penultimate car and the last car that was MAYBE big enough for me to pull through but I didn't want to take the chance.

Well, when the light went yellow, the guy behind me LAID on his horn (he was in a large pickup). Held it for what seemed like 10 seconds. It was kind of scary, frankly, I wondered what was coming next. 

When the light changed again I went as soon as it was at all safe, because I didn't want him to try to ram me or something. 

I don't like being intimidated out on the road but we have some intimidating drivers.

* I also noticed at the pharmacy they had a sign up at the consultation area (where I asked for details about the vaccine - I wanted to know how long a gap you needed to leave between the two shot - 2-6 months) saying something like "the people working here have loved ones too; please be considerate of them and do not berate them while they care for your loved ones." And okay, I guess in a way it's a nice sentiment to remind people. But it makes me sad. People should not have to be reminded. 

I really do think a lot of people are giving in to their selfish, mean side. 

* Like with that guy at the stoplight. I get that he was frustrated. I was frustrated, too - normally there are NEVER that many cars crossing (if that street gets any more traffic, it really needs a left-turn signal) but in a case like that? There's really nothing you can do other than wait for it to be clear. 

I feel like I seem to catch more random "unkind" interactions from people, and relatively fewer kind ones, and that's upsetting. (Or maybe the unkind ones simply stand out more). It makes me sad.

I've said before that I"m lonesome, I'd like to try to make more friends, but a lot of the people I encounter in public these days makes me wonder - maybe people are just inclined to hate me (or hate strangers in general?) now, and so.....okay, prepare for a future with fewer friends than you have now. 

I don't like the level of isolation I have and I KNOW i need to break through that but at the same time, rejection is corrosive and it's just hard in the world now; everyone is so much on edge it seems. 

* Also the book on the Elixir Sulfanilamide tragedy is, as I suspected, a hard read - not technically hard, it's pretty easy to read that way - but emotionally hard, the reports of kids dying after their parents gave them the medicine a doctor recommended; the agony of the doctors when they found out that they had poisoned patients. And the anger of some doctors - including at least on Black doctor - because it seemed in some communities the danger of the preparation was not disseminated in a timely fashion. And yeah, the businessmen in charge seemed not very quick to go "okay we have to pull this all off the market immediately" and in some cases kind of handwaved away the fact that it was their preparation that was bad.I'm going to see it through to the end - I presume the 1938 FD and C act will be referenced later on, and that's the thing I teach about. 

I also have another one I'm going to attempt, about the dumping of radioactive waste on Diné (Navajo) land, but I'm not sure if I'll have time to finish it before classes start.