Working, Living... and Staying Healthy?

I don't know whether I am just paying more attention than usual or there is something deeper here, but it seems like more and more people I know are experiencing "health problems" of some kind.

"Dude, that's just because you're olding!"

Well, no. Not exactly. Because aforesaid people actually includes a pretty broad swath of the population, age-wise...

Including 20-somethings getting terminal cancer, and a high school kid who just keeled over and died, for no particular reason, at age 17.

Are we just not as healthy as we used to be? Or are we not as sturdy and resistant as we used to be, meaning that the same things we once were OK with, now cause us serious issues?

Or could it be that we are no better or worse than we ever were, but the environment in which we try to carve out some kind of life is changing? And not for the better...

I was looking through the local supermarket weekly sales flyer, scanning for useful coupons and deals, and it really struck me how often the food products that seem affordable are the heavily processed and chemicalized stuff in a box, while the fresh and worthwhile "real" food just gets more and more expensive.

I'm not suggesting that the food is killing people, but I do think we are living in a day and age in which making healthy choices becomes more and more difficult, simply because people can only afford the less healthy choices. And that's pretty sad.

Not really related, yesterday I told our provider to discontinue our long-time landline telephone service. We've had it since moving to this part of the country in 2006, primarily because we live in an area that has sketchy mobile coverage, at the best of times.

But it had to go, for practical reasons... most of thise relating to saving another $64 a month on our expenses.

Which leads me to the next point... health issues relating simply to the stress of eternally living just a few dollars from destitution. Stress is a "silent killer" of sorts, because it wears you down slowly, over time.

We're not really designed to work 25 hours a day, 8 days a week, 13 months a year. It is a situation that is out of balance, and is certainly not helped by underlying economic uncertainty at the societal level.

I have no idea what these tariffs will do to us at the individual level, or at the macroeconomic level, but I do know that there's a new layer of worry added to the burden many people carry already.

Whereas I'll be the first to admit that we live in a "consumer society" that could do well to be dialed down a bit, there are also only so many things you can do WITHOUT.

Our microwave oven is giving up the ghost. So we broke down and ordered a replacement, after debating whether or not we could manage without one.

That cost $178 for a model comparable to the one that's dying... as a testament to how long we have had it, it was about $49 when I originally bought it. That said, "inflation" (as officially calculated and reported) does not account for a jump from $49 to $178. If the numbers weren't actually lying, to should have cost about $110.

Meanwhile, the premiums on our homeowner's insurance are going up to $233 a month, from $188 last year. I called the provider and asked "WTF?" and got the — completely defensible — answer that the assessed value of the house increased by 27% between 2023 and 2024, hence the increase.

The point here being that many people are experiencing this sort of stress, and it's not good for your health!

One of the important parts of what keeps us healthy and engaged in the world is having hope for what lies ahead... and it's difficult to keep hoping when everything around you feels more like you are sinking slowly into quicksand.

And some of that hope is squashed with the realization that thse pervasive and growing "heath problems" are not just the result of old farts like me being histrionic... it's also about the very young feeling a sense of hopelessness, along with high levels of stress.

Well, it's a sunny day, so I guess I will go outside and enjoy the sunshine... at least it's free! Well, at least for now...

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great remainder of your week!

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Created at 2025.04.30 15:30 PDT
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