A gorgeous, sun-filled day. Ran a few errands in Manahawkin and elsewhere and late in the day, drove to Bayville, of all places. Went on Route 9 instead of the Parkway, as I enjoy looking around and seeing what's up there.
Stopped next door at the D.'s. Will meet them for dinner at Scojo's tonight, then they'll go on to Monmouth U. and I'll go to rehearsal. Barb lent me two books: The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, by a native of Afghanistan, Khaled Hosseini. I started the first and it's utterly absorbing. I understand it was an international best seller, but since I read little fiction, I hardly noticed.
Made a date with Leslie and Dennis to go to their place tomorrow evening to show the DVD I just got, "War Made Easy." Told Les I'd bring over a bottle of White Zin, which I happen to have. At noon, I'll be going to the NJ Statehouse to attend a rally marking the seventh anniversary of the Iraqi War.
Seven years. I wonder how much blood has been spilled in Iraq in that time. Enough to fill a bathtub? Enough to fill a swimming pool? Enough to soak the American flag in red and obscure the good in our country?
Can we ever wash it clean?

Quiet. The blood tech, Debbie, came at 7:45. Pat didn't even have to get out of bed and hardly woke up. The oxygen guy came about noon--Pat still asleep--and showed me how to affix the water bottle onto the concentrator. Dr. M. had told me it was a good idea to hydrate the oxygen because of the dry heat in winter. I hope that helps relieve Pat's coughing, too, but who knows? (I forgot to mention I talked to the doctor on Monday because Pat was coughing blood, but not "copious amounts," as the doc put it.)
Got the Christmas decorations packed up, but the boxes are still in the dining room. Made an apple crisp, a favorite of Pat's. Got a call from Julie L. and we'll set a date for lunch at SeaOaks, along with Iris G.
Other than that, Nada.
Wider: There's an important piece on Common Dreams. Org in which Ward Churchill, University of Colorado, relates our arrogant "exceptionalism" and military mess to 9/11. It is linked by "A Tiny Revolution." An excerpt:
"It is not disputed that the Pentagon was a military target, or that a CIA office was situated in the World Trade Center.* Following the logic by which U.S. Defense Department spokespersons have consistently sought to justify target selection in places like Baghdad , this placement of an element of the American "command and control infrastructure" in an ostensibly civilian facility converted the Trade Center itself into a "legitimate" target. Again following U.S. military doctrine, as announced in briefing after briefing, those who did not work for the CIA but were nonetheless killed in the attack amounted to "collateral damage." If the U.S. public is prepared to accept these "standards" when they are routinely applied to other people, they should not be surprised when the same standards are applied to them."
*I hadn't known this before.

The lab tech came about 8:40 while Pat was still asleep. I woke him, but the tech said he didn't have to get out of bed. She drew the blood in about two minutes, he went back to sleep, and she left.
What a contrast to the chore it was for both of us to get Pat to Lab Corps for the same thing! That's not even to mention the 3-hour round trip when we had to got to Fort Dix for blood-drawing. So glad we found this Visiting Physicians outfit.
I went to my own doctor for the blood pressure thing. It was 134/85, not bad, but higher than she and I want it. She cautioned me again about my over=use of salt and now I'm going to get serious about cutting down on it. It was gratifying to discuss the election with her, as she's a liberal like me; maybe I should have kept my mouth shut about voting for Nader.
Later, the oxygen guy came for regular maintenance. He was here for quite a while, as Pat had a lot of questions and requests. (I think Community Surgical has a phone, but he would never dream of calling them--too proactive, I guess.)
On a wider note: From an article onTruthdig.com:
"(Obama's) policies are drawn from the same centrist Democratic Party sources as those of Bill Clinton, and Obama’s admirers might even find themselves with Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state—which makes no sense whatsoever." The writer suggests "...there are no significant differences of view on war and peace between the two of them."
This is an ominous sign, it seems to me and it prompted my vote for Nader.