Tamara Unleashed

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.

A very HOPEFUL DAY!!!!

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.

https://auanews.net/issues/articles/2025/june-2025/prevention-of-lower-urinary-tract-symptoms-research-consortium-update-for-sufu

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.

Go Jenna!!!!!!

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.

There is much work to be done!!!

Here is a link to the entire rally https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaDBxEkEVsA&t=11507s

We left for DC on Tuesday and drove to Buchanan VA, a lovely little town with a great Airbnb. There was only one restaurant open and it was only open until 8 so while I was out on a walk I stopped and ordered a cheese quesadilla and chicken wings for Craig. The person at the register asked me if I wanted chicken to which I said No, just cheese. While the other person was making the food we were chatting and she said a cheese quesadilla sounded really good and I said yes it does and added that I do not eat meat. When I got back to the Airbnb after 8 PM, I discovered it was a chicken quesadilla and not just a little bit of chicken. By the time I got done removing all of the chicken there was little cheese and I was HANGRY!!!!!!! I ate some popcorn and got by.

Today after the Veteran’s rally, I decided I would like some Pad Thai – perhaps because I knew there was a restaurant as we exited the Metro near where we are staying. I ordered a Pad Thai with Fried Tofu and left Craig with the signs to wait for the food while I walked up the hill to get the car. Food was ready shortly after I returned with the car. After my shower I looked at the take out bag and it said chicken Pad Thai. The word Veteran was also printed on the ticket so perhaps there was a Veterans discount – cool. Fortunately the pieces of chicken in this are large enough that I can remove and enjoy the noodles. Pad Thai generally makes my mouth really happy. At least I will not be HANGRY tonight.

So weird.

I have transitioned off the steroids with no rebound cough. It is still not 100% gone but if I cough it does not turn into a prolonged bout. I am sleeping more normally although I have so much going on in my mind about the Robertson County Democratic Party Outreach and Engagement activities that I wake up early ready to think and organize. I finally found the brick wall I want to figure out how to get through. The RCDP Executive Committee had a “social” meeting yesterday and it was a typical “herding of cats” experience. So much passion and desire to take action – how to harness??

We had dinner with Natalie and her parents, who went to her first 2 Keith Urban shows. They said, even without Natalie, Keith does a fabulous show. Ear protection is mandatory. She is SOOOOO happy and looks radiant on stage.

We made a lot of progress on our outside work last week. My energy held up really well.

The gully from the pasture across the southeast end of property is being transformed into a rock drainage ditch with Craig’s manpower and Katie’s assistance. All of the stones near and far in the center photo are now neatly placed. This is not quite finished yet, but is done at the top where the water enters our property.

I finished sanding the front porch and took apart a weathered Adirondack chair. I sanded all of the pieces and it is cedar. All of cedar sawdust seemed to support my hypothesis from last summer that cedar is a great bug repellant for me. I was out until sunset with not one bite.

We are off to DC tomorrow – will drive to Buchanan VA the first day and arrive in DC early afternoon on Wednesday. The Unite for Veterans Rally AKA DDay Protest in on the 6th. We will likely be able to find some protests to join on the 7th as well.

I made it through the first 3 dosed (.25/.5 and 1 mg). I could not have continued to increase the dose and maintain any appetite. I lost about 20 pounds, half of my goal but there is not way I would want to continue on this drug long term so I decided to just stop it now. I now clearly know how few calories I need in a day and if my brain has been retrained at all, I should be able to keep this weight off with keeping my intake commensurate with my activity level and hopefully lose the last 20 pounds over time.

I am glad that I did the experiment and got back to where I was 5 years ago. Now for the HARD work.

This is a 30 minute, 6 episode, 5 season dramedy that I binged over the last few days. It has been a long time since I have watched something that so utterly charmed me and covered the breath of emotions as this show did. Set in Oslo in current times. it is a look into the life challenges of a single mother who works as a child protection social worker. It deals with many of life’s toughest challenges with the back drop of a culture and society that that looks after its basic citizens’ needs better. While there are always financial challenges keeping up with the needs and wants of 2 teenage daughters and a gap year in Argentina, there is no sense of fear of access to education or healthcare or a looming bankruptcy with an injury or illness.

A more equitable distribution of wealth does not eliminate problems of racism, child abuse, drug addiction or teen suicide but these characters seem to face their challenges with less fear.