152) Of Golf & the Urban Poor

Aug 11, 2007
Saturday

El Milagro: I am here at 1 pm after Herman the Nurse called me at noon, saying they have a chair if I want it. I almost always want the early chair. I get stuck by Carol the Tech as Phyllis the Nurse and I discuss college years and college credits. She too graduated with 160 hours in her undergraduate degree from Kansas State.

Not much to report today. I am reading my new book: Off the books: The underground economy of the urban poor by Sudhir Venkatesh. This is gonna be a really interesting book about how people live under the radar. Generally many of us think of the down and out segment of the society with some pity and maybe even a little disdain. They may remind us of how our country marginalizes portions of the society, and maybe they even remind some of us of how we could slide into their state. And yet these folks have their own culture and their own way of eking out a living in their communities that Venkatesh has integrated into, observed, and reported compassionately in this book. I’m delving into the book whiletrying to follow the golf at the same time. Interesting combination, huh?

It’s the 89th PGA Championship on the TV. Tiger is paired with Scott Verplank, evenly at the beginning, but then Scott falls off and I think about how much pressure one must feel playing alongside Tiger and trying to keep up. Plus, they’re playing in the 100+ temperatures of Oklahoma today.

This place is pretty much like normal today. One of the normalities is the recurrent beeps calling techs to adjust people’s machines. The machine of the woman beside me beeps every 5 or 6 minutes and someone has to go adjust it, but they don’t flip her needles or anything, so I wonder what that’s all about. Usually when someone’s machine beeps a lot the tech will eventually come over and spend some time trying to either adjust the machine or adjust the needles so that the beeping stops. Sometimes the needles rest against the side of the arterial vein and this slows the flow and the machine doesn't like that so it beeps. Then the tech comes over and untapes the person, turns the needle over or adjusts it in the vein, and retapes the person. This time, with this woman, they just come over and hit the button that stops the beeping.... again.... and again... and again... until I almost say, "What's the deal Camille?" But I mind my own business and just wonder about the whole scene.

So it goes on this Saturday here at El Milagro, in Austin, on the planet. Tiger just bogeyed. So it goes in Oklahoma tambien.

Notes: In at 74.1 and out at 72.1 Kgs.
1) Of note, I am planning a trip to Washington in September to advocate for passage of the Kidney Care Quality & Education Act of 2007 Read more at the NRAA website: http://www.nraa.org/Bill_Sponsors.php
2) And, Liz and I have founded The Austin Folkies team to participate in the annual PKD Walk. Check us out by clicking the top Link on the black sidebar!
New Readers: For A Welcome Post, click August 2006 on the Sidebar.