Radio-head

The last couple of days saw me drive to Portland, and back, and again to Portland, and back...about 800 miles, and several hours getting lost or stuck in traffic.  One of the few things that makes such days tolerable is our trusty Sirius satellite radio, mostly tuned to the Met Opera Radio station, but occasionally tuned to NPR.  The news programming was about the lunatics taking over the asylum, and about people actually obtaining health insurance.  The opera du jour was Verdi's La Traviata.  So I found my mind wandering as I drove through the pouring rain in the Willamette Valley, listening to Violetta delicately coughing her lungs out while moaning "E tardi!" ...

"...She's a courtesan so she's self-employed, and she's definitely got a pre-existing condition--and who knows, maybe syphilis--but now that the exchanges are open, she shouldn't have to sell all of her belongings to get Dr. Grenvil to come and visit her...a good course of antibiotics, she and Alfredo might have a future..."