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I had a really long day at work today...an almost 10 hour shift, with no lunch, and no break. I guess I can't complain though. Monica works longer hours than me on a regular basis, so the occasional shift that runs 2 or more hours over my schedule shift duration isn't too bad (although they're becoming a lot more common as of late.) At any rate, I wouldn't mind the longer hours, if I had a chance to get a lunch in there somewhere, but all too often I've been working my shifts without a lunch break, because there hasn't really been anyone who could effectively cover the department, or who could be spared from the sales floor. Again, no big deal...I can always use the 30 extra minutes I get from NOT taking a lunch, although I get fussed at from time to time because it looks like my employers are working me long hours without a lunch break, and that doesn't look good for the company. lol
At any rate, today was a busy day, and one of my customers wanted me to print out some fund raising fliers for ALS research, for the ALS Ironhorse Foundation. They're having a golf tournament and are looking for sponsors to donate money that will be put towards medical studies and research on ALS (Lou Gherigh's disease, for those of you who don't know.)
The weird thing about it is, before Kim was stricken with ALS, we'd never really heard about the disease that much, and the only person we knew who had it was Stephen Hawking. Now, since Kim's passing, ALS seems to be popping up everywhere - the fliers at work today, various and random occurrences in discussions I've had with different people...even NASCAR has a car racing in the circuit right now that has all of the proceeds from its race winnings going to ALS research!
It seems that ALS is now one of the new "buzz words" in the medical community, and it's appearing more in the media each day. It seems that a lot of the troops who fought in Desert Storm are now getting ALS also, and they're thinking that there's a good chance the occurrence of the disease is related the troop's exposure to certain chemicals that were used during the war. It makes me wonder if that was how Kim contracted the disease...from exposure to chemicals she might have come into contact with on the farm, or at work or something. It's also interesting to note that many of the people who now have (or have died from) ALS were in peak physical condition. Kim was strong and in good shape from working on the farm; the lady I talked with at work today said that the people she personally knew who'd died from ALS were in excellent shape (one competed in triathlons); and obviously the US soldiers who fought in Dessert Storm (and in subsequent wars) obviously had to be in good shape to be in the military. So why is it that all these healthy and strong individuals are suddenly being crippled by this disease? So many questions, so few answers. I hope one day someone can make sense of it all.
Well, I didn't intend for this post to be this depressing and melodramatic, but there you go. Thanks for stopping by, and have a great Labor Day weekend. Peace.
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