h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hey there, anonymous voyeurs;

James here once more. I'm writing this while listening to a stream from the official Orbital site: http://www.loopz.com . Check them out if you're oblivious to the wonderment that is P+P Hartnoll.

I'm in a dilemma of sorts. I've recently come to the conclusion that I need to do something worth remembering when I'm on my deathbed. Floating from one job to another, knowing when payday is because that's when I'll be able to buy some stuff I need or want just plain old sucks.

I've decided I need to go back to school and this time, actually go to class and not drink & smoke my afternoons away.

I am thinking that I will go to medical school. I want to do my part to prevent the sort of stupid senseless deaths that my mother succumbed to. She died a couple of years ago after stressing herself just one time too many. My Stepdad couldn't take care of her and work a full-time job anymore. He was driving her around to several nursing homes to see what they could do and which one my mother "approved" of. My mother was only 51 and simply couldn't fathom 20 or 30 more years of life spent entirely in a nursing home with only 25% mobility. She'd spent the previous five years in bed due to complications stemming from her diabetes and a series of strokes. The strokes cost her the use of the left side of her body. The diabetes cost her her feet. She despised being what she called a "gimp". She had to wear diapers and bathe herself with a rag and a bowl. When she finally knew that she wasn't going to be able to keep living in her own house anymore, that the stays in the hospital and recovery homes were no longer going to be transitional, she gave up.

That didn't surprise me. What surprised me was that she lasted so long. Five years of invalidity, starting at age 46. I'm 29 now and it apalls me to think what it would be like to have only 16 more years to truly live. If I had a child now, I would even get to see him or her graduate from high-school. I am still amazed by her defiance of it all.

It's time that I do what I can to keep that from happening again.

So I'm going to take this next year to prepare myself, mostly in financial means, to go to medical school. I plan to focus on genetics, specifically on the causes and mechanics of aging and the deteriation (sp?) of our bodies.

I hadn't planned to go into that much detail about my mother. Now that I have, I'm all depressed. Good thing I've still got that Orbital stream going on. The sheer beauty of their music just entrances everybody who truly listens to them.

I'm thinking of quitting my current phone-jockey job with PrimeCo and trying to get back in with Texas Instruments. My boss back there, Susan and I are still on quite good terms. I should never have quit that job. It was kinda cool being surrounded by all those chips and disks and wafers and substrates and junk. I only quit because I was feeling antsy, which I do about once a year, after I've grown accustomed to my current surroundings. I hope I can outgrow that urge soon.

If you read this Yoli, let me know some feedback, ok?