We had lots of help getting our tent set up. There were so many of us that people were out working the crowd – getting people to come over and do the Bean Poll and signing up on our email list. We had 26 people sign up. 8 was the biggest number to date. There were no rude comments and the weather was lovely. After it was all up and running, I had Craig take me to a nearby Mexican restaurant for chips, salsa and a Margarita. They really hit the spot.
The positive reception of people in the crowd was very encouraging and energizing for RCDP members. Many people were not aware that there was even a need for a Special Election.
Several people hung around to help us tear down the booth. I was determined to keep things organized (and did a pretty good job). All was well until it came time to take down the tent. One of the arms would not release to fold up.
Unfortunately, Craig was out getting the car and was driving around when this was taking place. He would have had more patience and likely would have figured the problem out before it ended up broken. The Chair had decided to get a customized tent anyway to make it much easier and faster for 1-2 people to do set up for an event. By the time Craig was able to get through, the evidence of impatience was all disposed of.
We do not have another event until the First Friday in September. We should have one or two Podcasts completed by then to promote by then and full details on the Town Hall.
Since the middle of June, I/we have been working hard on behalf of the Robertson County Democratic Party which has grown pretty inactive over the past 2 decades. Everyone has said that the Springfield (county seat) First Friday event is the most important event to be at. Tonight is our first, First Friday. We had a dry run of table/booth events on July 3. Both events went well and I saw how things worked (or didn’t) and we have devised ways to make things better.
Instead of plastic cups with duct tape label for our “bean” survey of important issues (which took up way too much table space), we now have tiered mason jars with easier to read labels. We ask people to put a bean in the jar of their top 5 issues. Previously we tried top 2 or 3 but it takes people too much time to prioritize so tonight we are trying top 5. Hopefully more people can get engaged. The supplies are all nicely organized in containers -one for the tent and one for the table so when it is time to tear down the booth, everything can go back into the correct containers for next time.
We have a Special Election for Mark Green’s vacated US House seat that will become the focus of our efforts until the General Election on Dec. 2nd. Tonight we are going to be collecting questions from the community about what questions they would like the candidates to answer and have a survey to collect what people’s top issues are. These would not be considered scientific in any way but it will be interesting to see what we learn.
It took me forever this week to create a flyer that we can hand out tonight. My skills are rusty and there is much I don’t know. I eventually got something Craig found acceptable. I couldn’t figure out how to include our RCDP logos for reasons that escape me. It communicates what we need it to communicate and sadly, most will likely end up thrown away anyway.
Through my efforts to learn how to build Community Engagement for the party in this community, I have had many 1/1 meetings with people who have been involved with RCDP much longer than I have. I am meeting wonderful people and have some budding friendships. This is one of the most rural counties in the state of TN with tobacco being its most important crop. While it pains me to say this, they grow some good looking corn here as well.
So today at 2 PM, I found that I was all done with my preparation and had time to reflect and blog. As I have never been involved in local politics, I look forward to the next several months -going through an expedited election cycle for the Special Election.
It has been brutal weather here as in many places around the US. We have curtailed outdoor activities. There were 3 opportunities to protest this week in this area – Good Trouble protests in honor of John Lewis. There was 1 on Thursday, 11 AM-1PM or 5PM-7PM and the Annual John Lewis March in Nashville on Saturday. I thought the evening one would be more tolerable on Thursday. I went with a woman from the Robertson County Democratic Party RCDP deciding to leave our men at home as neither were feeling tip-top. The protest was on a pedestrian overpass in Clarksville. There was a breeze for most of the time and it was tolerable.
We ran into 3 other women from RCDP. At peak there were probably 80 protesters – not bad for a small community and a miserable day. We were glad we made the effort.
Craig and I decided to attend the March in Nashville yesterday. It started at 8 AM and we thought it would be tolerable. We parked about half-way along the march route so there would be less walking to get back to car at the end when it was hotter. The event seemed well organized and while we would have loved to have seen thousands of protestors, there were more than 500. They had a series of speakers which started about 8:45 and we kept moving around the crowd and looking at displays until it started. It was overcast and there was a breeze. I was pretty comfortable.
About 30 minutes into the talks, Craig said he was going to go into the shade and sit down. After about 10 minutes I went to check on him and someone had provided him with cold water. A protester had noticed him and brought him some grapes thinking he might need sugar. He was hot and it was clear we would not be able to march so I left the lovely protester watching over Craig and went to get the car. I talked to a police officer on the way and he called to the officers closer to where Craig was and said they would let me by the barriers so I could pick him up. Very helpful.
I got the car and as I was approaching I texted Craig and then he called. I could hear lots of commotion around him and he wasn’t making much sense. I got easily by the barriers and by the time I got to Craig there was a event volunteer medical professional with Craig as well as a ER nurse attending the protest and the the original protester and her partner attending to Craig. I was gone about 15 minutes getting the car and he had rapidly deteriorated. One woman was fanning him with her poster. They had cold water bottles on his neck and an iced lumbar support to cool off his back. His blood pressure was low and he had stopped sweating. They had already called the ambulance which I was grateful for. He did not fully lose consciousness but he said he was almost there. I am so grateful for the volunteers and protesters that looked after him and missed the march.
I suggested the ambulance take him to the VA ER because that is where he gets most of his care and it would be less busy than Vanderbilt ER. As soon as the EMTs arrived and gave him a liter of IV fluids, they said he was conscious and oriented. BIG sigh of relief. There was no need for sirens on the way to the ER and the driver drove so I could follow – also VERY nice. As I had to park the car, I could not go in with him and ended up in the waiting room for about an hour before I got to go back and see him. He was sitting up and wondering where I was. I had his phone and he didn’t know my phone number.
As I was getting out of the car, I grabbed his cap because I figured his head would be cold. Sure enough, when I walked in he had the blanket up over his head and gratefully put on his cap. He received a total of 3 liters of fluids before he was discharged. He was so dehydrated that he had a bit of injury to his kidneys. His creatinine had improved with hydration or they would have kept him overnight.
He received EXCELLENT care at the VA ER. The doctor suggested he get support stockings to wear at future events to help keep the blood circulating. At our previous protests, we had done a lot more walking around and this was certainly the hottest protest. In addition, it is hard to be as hydrated for an event first thing in the morning. When he is working outdoors, he is always hydrating with electrolyte solution. As we had been indoors all week, he may have been less hydrated with less tolerance to the heat. It was the perfect set of circumstances that led to pretty rapid onset of severe heat exhaustion.
When we got home he slept 3 hours and he says he feels fine this morning. It is fortuitous that he has an appointment with his PCP on Tuesday so we can recheck his kidney function.
We left Nashville about 930 AM with plans to meet a friend from Pfizer days in Lexington KY for lunch at 1230 completely forgetting about the one hour time difference. Fortunately Daniela was able to move a meeting around so that she could do lunch at 130 instead. Then we drove to the wrong location of the restaurant. She sent me the correct one but when I plugged it into Maps, the other one came up and I didn’t notice there were 2. Not a great start for our weekend.
However, we had a great lunch and made it to our Airbnb in Cincinatti with about 20 minutes to get ready to go to Riverbend Music Center. Since we had never been to this venue, we wanted to allow plenty of time. We ended up parking as far away from the venue as possible. Fortunately the temperature was tolerable so the walk wasn’t too bad. We met up with college friends Kris and Bill, grabbed some water and went to sit down. Their seats were a couple of rows from ours but they sat next to us, planning to move when someone came for the seats. The couple ended up coming in during the 3rd opener but preferred our friend’s seats so it worked out great.
During the first opening act, Natalie came out and we were able to see her for a few minutes. The openers were good, but we were there to see Natalie!!. The show was amazing. None of us were familiar with Keith’s music so there was no nostalgia. It was pure awe and joy watching the amazing musicianship from every single person on stage.
Natalie was all over the stage playing the fiddle, guitar, mandolin and banjo. Keith is an incredible performer and very natural in his interactions with the crowd. They performed one duet and Natalie KILLED it. This is the song they performed at a previous show. I can’t seem to post my own video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWq_hy_lPWc
Natalie radiated joy from beginning to the end of the show as we all did. It was an amazing way to celebrate our two years together.
The venue did an amazing job of routing the traffic out of the parking areas. By the time we got to our car, the area was nearly empty. Our route was several miles through the countryside before we could get back to main roads. When we were almost back to our Airbnb we decided we were hungry – we hadn’t eaten dinner. We spent the next 2 hours criss-crossing between Cincinnati and KY trying to find a place that was open late. We ended up at a Waffle House that was only doing take out. So we ate our breakfast on picnic tables for an adjacent pizza place. It was the best Waffle House meal ever.
The next day we drove cross country to Kris and Bill’s place outside Greenville OH. Greenville is an amazingly vibrant community of just less than 13K. We have a tradition of sharing a pitcher of margaritas at a local restaurant. The pitcher and each glass comes with flashing lights and rubber ducks. Very festive.
We are back home and we will be dog sitting for Hazel, a Pomeranian, for about 10 days. I kept Hazel for a month in 2020 and she was very well behaved. Now I must get organized for 2 overlapping events for the Robertson County Democratic Party on July 3.
I got up at 5 AM to help set up a booth at the Greenbrier Car Show – Rumble in the Brier for the Robertson County Democratic Party at 6 AM. I was back home at 715 and we left for Nashville for the No Kings Protest at 815. A colleague from Nashville Tools for Schools joined us and carried a sign that Craig made in 2017 for Trump’s visit to Nashville. Yesterday we added a crown on baby Trump with the word “King me Daddy” to be consistent with the theme. Craig also updated his sign. Instead of Hands off the VA Asshole, it now reads Piss on your birthday parade Taco Boy. So many people took pictures of these two signs.
The protest started at 10 AM and when we arrived at 945, the lower level next to the “stage” was full so we stood at the back. We parked in a place that was a fair distance away and there were not too many others there so I was worried about the turnout. As the protest got started, the speakers were using bull horns and we couldn’t hear anything except the chants as they filtered back. It rained for about 5 minutes. At some point, one of the volunteers came by and encouraged people to move north and have people line up on both sides of a major street as we couldn’t hear the speakers anyway. As we turned around, we were stunned that the entire park behind us had filled up with protesters. Young and old, mobile and in wheelchairs. I was overwhelmed with emotion as we walked through all of the people that were still trying to move forward. It was peaceful and joyous. Many people recognized Craig from our previous protests.
These are Craig’s reflections on the protest: “Tamara and I demonstrated in Nashville today and were REALLY heartened. 💕 Not only a great turnout— I’m guessing 3000 to 5000– but with the great energy and determination they all they radiated. Lots of young, old, and in-between people, and a lot of veterans (YAY!) —a whole cross-section of humanity there. There was no other place on earth I wanted to be in that moment and with damn good company to boot!”
The RCDP table had good traffic at the Rumble in the Brier as well. As the table was at a car show, Andrew had little toy cars for the kids. If you get the kids, you get the parents. This was our second outing and we will work to make it more inviting and get some action shots next time.
On our last night in DC, Craig wanted to visit the Vietnam Memorial again and I thought it would be lovely to see all of the memorials on the Mall at night. As we approached the Vietnam Memorial, the Washington Monument look like a pearl. It was stunning. After visiting the wall and locating most of the names of the fallen soldiers in his platoon, his legs were too fatigued after 2 days on the roof to continue walking so I thought it we could drive around the Mall and see the Memorials. Unfortunately we quickly ran into traffic jams at 11 PM as streets were blocked off and cement barricades were being placed for the highjacked celebration of the 250th Anniversary of the Army. We took a detour into Virginia and just went home.
I sporadically keep up with “urology” news since retirement. AUA News is the easily accessible publication of the American Urological Association that comes out monthly. The Journal of Urology is their peer-review publication. More people read AUA News than the Journal of Urology.
Illogical, damaging, fear-based decisions by my immediate leadership in the NIDDK regarding the PLUS Research Consortium is what drove me to early retirement. Being forced to take actions that I knew were wrong took such a heavy of a toll on my physical and mental health that I couldn’t suck it up and go along. It was heartbreaking and I grieved for a very long time. I am still grieving for what could have been if my leadership had even an ounce of courage. The PlUS Consortium was positioned to go from development of a new area of science (prevention of bladder problems in women) to completion of a prevention intervention study in 15 years.
Instead the PLUS Consortium officially ends on June 30th after 10 years. Even though it was not able to meet its full potential, this dedicated group of scientists created a new area of science and has provided the foundation for others to do the prevention intervention studies.
The PLUS Consortium has published A LOT of articles in peer review journals over the decade documenting the process, the challenges of their work and their findings. Seeing this concise summary of the work in the AUA News this morning moved me to happy tears. A colleague that was not part of the consortium sent this to me yesterday or I might not have had this opportunity for a good cry.
One of my faithful Unleashed readers was on the early part of journey to create this highly functional transdisciplinary group of scientists with me. He knows how challenging this was. It was the hardest and best thing I have ever done.
Now it’s time to make new signs for the protest tomorrow.
When friends host us, we (Craig) always try to help them out when we can with handyman tasks ( they are willing to trust us). In DC, my friend had a short list which included a 2 areas of possible roof leaks. Her duplex neighbor spotted one issue which was on the small roof that contained a skylight to her kitchen. Through her second floor window over the skylight roof, she noted some rotted wood in the corner of the skylight roof adjacent to my friends. There also was a water ring around a ceiling light on my friend’s second floor.
In order for Craig to investigate and repair if possible, we needed an extension ladder and had to access the roof through the neighbor’s property. Home Depots and Lowes are not that accessible in DC. We found a Home Depot that had an appropriate length ladder and we drove across town Saturday afternoon to rent a ladder. We got a 3 section extension ladder 6 feet long that fit in the back of Craig’s car. We got supplies for a roof repair. The ladder worked great for getting him from the neighbor’s deck to the skylight roof. However pulling the ladder up to the skylight roof so he could inspect the second floor roof was more challenging. It was tricky positioning the ladder around the skylight. My friend had used her skylight roof area for a walk-in closet/master bathroom during a renovation over a decade ago.
The rotted wood was at the junction of the “new build” with neighbors wall. It was easy to identify and it looked like it could be fixed. Inspection of the second floor roof revealed at best shoddy work or at worst NO work by a roofing contractor 6 years ago. It is possible that new sealant was placed over old sealant but the old sealant. Without scraping off the deteriorated sealant, new sealant would be less effective. While Craig did not identify anything that was an active leak, the area around the air-conditioning unit was concerning. Once this shoddy work was seen by Craig, it could not be unseen. He hates trusting others to do good work and my friend had NOT gotten good work 6 years ago so he decided he wanted to take care of it.
He worked 8 hours Saturday (until dark) and 4 hours on Sunday and felt he had likely corrected the problems. I was ground support making another trip to Home Depot and three trips to Ace Hardware to get everything he needed. Once he was on the roof, it was too difficult to move the ladder between levels so he just stayed on the roof. We used a long outdoor extension cord to move supplies, food and hydration from ground to the skylight roof. He sweat enough on Saturday that his bladder did not become an issue. We communicated by text as I waited indoors. He did not appreciate my comments or concerns about his safety while he was working.
I continue to be amazed by what Craig can figure out how to do even in difficult situations. He does not take on tasks he does not feel he can do safely. I do everything I can do to support him. It has taken me a while to learn to leave him alone while he is working and trust that he will let me know when he needs something. Truthfully I am not all that comfortable with it but my worry does not help him at all.
We both felt GREAT about what we were able to accomplish. Doing good deeds is a helpful distraction from the gloom and doom of our descent into Fascism.
I worked with Jenna Norton for 7 years during my time at the NIH. She was young, driven, and very intelligent woman with a true passion for public health. I am proud to say I was a mentor. She worked full-time, had 2 children and earned her Doctorate in Public Health. She had another child and assumed a Program Officer role, the same as I had. Yesterday, she put her job on the line when she publicly dissented in the Bethesda Declaration. Please watch this video and share widely.
We had dinner with Jenna Sunday evening and she said is doing this for her children and because she could not NOT speak out.
We are so glad we attended. I think there were about 2000 in attendance but I have not seen anything official. Many of the attendees were on the sides where it was shady. The stage and acoustics were great and there were 2 screens for those in the back and sides to see the stage better. By and large all were excellent speakers. There were some great signs and the crowd was very friendly and interactive. Dropkick Murphy, a Celtic punk band played about 30 minutes. It was rousing, interesting music. The lead singer had just returned from Ukraine where a group of veterans drove a bunch of ambulances into Ukraine. The average life of an ambulance in Ukraine is 11 days.
A woman came up to Craig and asked if he was from Nashville. Laura, from Murfreesboro, had seen him at the April 5 protest. Laura was not a veteran but most men in her family were vets and she came to DC in support of all of them. I loved her sign. She will be protesting in Murfreesboro on the 14th which is a very active protest community. I hope we can grow similar activism in Robertson County.
Tammy Duckworth gave a great speech as did Adam Kinzinger and Conor Lamb, both former congressmen.
The highlight of the rally for Craig was getting his picture taken with Adam Kinzinger. Craig caught up to him as he was leaving and said “I want to take a picture with you?” and Adam said “and I want to take a picture with you.” Class.
The man below drove down from Brooklyn leaving at 5 AM and said he couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.
It was disappointing that there were not 20K persons at the protest given how many veterans are in easy driving and public transportation distance from DC but it was a start. The focus was on stopping loss of support for VA and other services that support veterans. The proposed cuts are shameful.
Soldiers swear to protect the Constitution, not a President.
Tamara Unleashed 