Up and at 'em!

I feel a little like the guy in the joke who spent all night cramming for his blood test. (In my case, however, a stress test is what is called for.)

On the other hand, I am doing a little tai chi to get warmed up.

More later...

Mental preparation...

Listening to upbeat music and looking stuff up on the Internet.

I read a description of someone as being "a close chewer and a tight spitter" in Cocktails with Molotov, by Barry Farber, and found an Internet source that explains the expression to mean, basically, a cheapskate. I'll have to think on that, since the original obviously refers to the habit of chewing tobacco. (I wonder if there's a parallel between this mental picture and that of the stereotypical Scotsman who plays his radio softly, so as not to give any eavesdroppers any potential benefit from listening to what is being played?)

And this:

Most of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.

I wonder, how well does that shoe fit me?

Cheers...

Botkin Hospital, Day 7

After having listened to descriptions of stress tests from astronauts and cosmonauts, I cannot say I was entirely enthusiastic about undergoing such a trial today, but there comes a time when one must grasp the bull squarely by the tail and face up to the situation. As it turned out, according the the cardiologist, I pretty much aced the thing and didn't feel at all worn out or overextended in the aftermath.

The other thing they had me scheduled for got canceled owing to the doctor being called away to address an emergency.

I therefore hold out hope that I may be released tomorrow, at which point I'll have some solid ground under me, which will be the base upon which I'll be able to undertake hieing my carcass (and belongings) back home.

As it turned out, I did not keep a very detailed record of what went on during this past week, and so I shall have to rely on my memory to recall significant snippets once I get home. That, and figuring out how the experience can be explained and described to acquaintances without sounding like either an unremitting critic or a fawning apologist—and this, in the full knowledge that I was being afforded a higher level of care under the auspices of my end client's in-country arrangements to provide medical care when necessary, e.g., being housed in a private room and not a ward.
It will be an interesting skull session, that's for sure.

Cheers...