[N.B. This blog was pre-approved by Eileen]

Eileen and I have spent the last couple of days staying calm but a bit frightened. Eileen had her regular mammogram on Monday. She came home unperturbed but a few hours later there was a call with the disconcerting news that she had to return the next day for another try. There was something odd in the first one that required another look and possibly an ultrasound.

Neither of us slept very well that night. But after the next appointment she came home to tell me that they had found a non malignant cyst. No action needed.

So while war rages in Ukraine, Eileen and I were very grateful that we had dodged that particular bullet. Eileen confessed to me later that what she had dreaded was not so much a cancer diagnosis but the eventual treatment which is often as bad if not worse than the disease.

I finished Gessen’s The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin a few minutes ago. I wanted to read it as quickly as possible during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I am already of a fan of Gessen’s work and am planning next to read her book, The Future is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia. It’s sitting on my shelves.

Eileen signed up for a online three day weaving workshop. I think it has helped distract her a bit.

The Biden Administration Killed America’s Collective Pandemic Approach

The headline on this article did not blame the Biden Administration for this otherwise I probably wouldn’t have clicked on the link. I find it dumb to keep blaming the president for stuff. But this is a good article.