More than expected

 The last few days things have been a little more than expected in a lot of ways.  Yesterday Peter and I decided to go for a real hike on a trail owned by the NC botanical garden.  It was a 1.5 mile path.  It was actually through woods, which was great, although once a bit in I realized I could use a hiking pole.  Peter found me a walking stick to get through the walk, which was really helpful.  We had not looked at the sign beforehand, but apparently over the trail it was a 270 ft drop, which means we also had to climb up that incline.  For anyone who ever went hiking/walking with before transplant, you will know that inclines were not my friend.  There were a lot of fairly steep parts, and a general incline for the last 1/3 of the trail.  It was a little hard, and I was breathing a little heavy, but that was it.  This is amazing.  Pre-transplant, I couldn't walk up a slightly sloped sidewalk without huffing, puffing, and feeling like my heart was beating so hard it would burst.  And the longer I tried, the less my limbs would move - most likely because not enough oxygen was getting to my extremities.  Now, I go up, and I'm out of breath.  But my legs were fine, heart wasn't too bothered, and it was slightly winded so hard to talk, but not huffing and puffing.  I could sit down for 30-60 seconds, catch my breathe, and go again.  Being still someone de-conditioned.  This was a HUGE win. Did I mention that it ended up taking us 1.5 hours to do the hike?  Previously, I've lasted about 30 minutes.  If either Peter or I had realized that it would take so much time, or had the incline, we would have assumed I could not do it.  But once we were in the situation, I did, and with more ease than expected.  This makes me really excited, because if I can do that now, imagine what I could do if I was more in shape?

The other thing that has been more than expected has been my Biden ad.  It was amazing to see that yesterday Joe Biden tweeted at me saying that he will protect people with pre-existing conditions. 

 I know that I am super liberal and that is part of why I support Biden, but I don't know if I've really spelled it out.  I anyone is on the fence about who they are voting for tomorrow, here are my main reasons

-  Biden has vowed to protect the ACA.  Now, it is not perfect  by any means, but some of the laws that were passed with it, like removing life time maximums, forcing insursers to cover pre-existing conditoins without charging more (and to do it at all), allowing kids to stay on their parents health insurance until age 16, and expanding Medicaid to many low income households  have made huge differences.  Joe plans to expand access to plans to lower/middle class families who can't afford it. He has a plan already on what to do.  And for me, if you can't show me the policy I don't believe you have a plan. 

- Biden's tax plan is to raise taxes for individuals making over $400,000 a year, and to tax the uber rich more fairly.  There was an interesting graphic showing that the tax rate for the lowest earners has risen since 1950, but the tax rate for the most wealthy has fallen significantly.  I believe that we measure how well our economy is doing not by the stock market, but how the lowest 10% are doing.  Right now, it isn't good. Income inequality is absurd.  The minimum wage has not been raised in so long that someone working TWO full time jobs still can't afford to live in most cities. I don't believe that people should have to work not making enough to live on.  Companies have been piloting giving their employees a living wage, and it works.  It puts more money into the community.  Trickle down economics doesn't work.  I think that the economy will be stronger under Biden.

- Biden has a plan, which can be put in place day 1, on how to get covid under control.  It involves following the science.  Reports have shown that if a national mask mandate had been put in place early on, as many as 130,000 of the Americans who have died would not have

- I believe that Biden is the more Christian candidate. He is for many "safety net" programs. His platform gives the most people the best chance at having a shot.

- I also morally could not vote for someone who lies, incites violence, calls white supremists "good people", ignores rules about common decency, and isn't bothered that his policies have led to over 500 migrant children being seperated from families that our country now can't find to reunite them with their parents. I feel like voting for him would be turning my back on my LGBTQ friends, my friends with disabilities, my BIPOC friends, and myself and others with health conditions. 

That is why I voted by Biden/Harris.  That is why I've volunteered. That is why I used my voice to tell my story. If you are still on the fence and want to have a conversation, I would be happy to have a non judgemental one with you before you go to the polls. 

Everyone be safe tomorrow.  Vote if you haven't already.  Bring a bottle of water and some snacks with you in case you have to wait. I really like the metaphor that voting is like taking the bus to your destination - chances are neither candidate gets you exactly where you want to go, but which one gets you in the right direction.  I truly believe that we are going in the wrong direction, and that another 4 years will weaken our country in the view of the world, economically, and in terms of health.  I don't believe covid goes away if 45 is re-elected. The future is in our hands.  Which future do you want?