A Dangerous COBRA, A Bridge to Bridge Run, and a Lovely Mayoty Dog. Now THAT'S a Day.

[Below is an email I sent out to my running partners in the marathon program. Enjoy, consider or delete.]

That was a great twenty miles on Saturday, folks. Ironic thing was as we were running through Duboce Triangle, I pointed out where I get my quarterly blood draw as a part of regular HIV monitoring healthcare. My insurance covers this routine blood draw, which without insurance, would cost over $700. Or so I thought until I got home from my run success.

Waiting for me?

A bill saying my claim was denied and my insurance was cancelled by Blue Shield, and I immediately owed the $700. Since I have lived in SF, I have been laid off three times, which has put me over $30,000 in debt trying to prevent just the situation I am currently going through. You see, with a preexisiting condition, if your insurance lapses, you are ineligible for future healthcare. So I have paid my COBRA, which is now over $600 a month so that i can prove continuance of care. So expensive that I can't afford the co-pays of going to the doctor. So, I guess the thing you direct the most attention trying to prevent can circle around and bite you in the ass anyhoo.

I was watching The Secret and it talks of the Law of Attraction. Did I draw this drama to me to learn some lesson? Was I exceptionally evil in the post-karma department? I don't think so. What I do believe is that it has been my calling to embody the legacy of Hermes the Messenger. I am here to remind people of personal responsibility and unconditional compassion. If my AIDS experience has increased awareness and access to treatment for others, then that is a good day.

Thank goodness for the great folks like Megan at AIDS Legal Referral Panel who are advocating my case, to Ellen at SFAF who got me on ADAP so my drug access won't be threatened, and to Peter at the Immune Enhancement Project, who has been helping me deal with this extraordinarily stressful situation through Eastern modalities like massage and acupuncture. It has all taken a toll and I am getting sick--I can feel it moving into my chest. But I am willing myself better to run with the Bridge to Bridge crew on Sunday. (Where we meeting up?)

All of this is not to say, "Woe is me..." it is to say how vitally necessary your funds and awareness you are raising are. You are outstanding, you have changed the world, and I am honored to run amongst you. Thank you for sharing of your passions, your selves.

On an unrelated note, check out this clip. Anyone wanna join me for one? Delicious! http://www.comedycentral.com/motherload/player.jhtml?ml_video=103115&is_large=true

Wind at your backs...

Namaste, I honor the god in you

Craig

The Wisdom From Our Animal Friends.

Hello Friends of a Hermes...

My old roommie Nona sent me this. While not usually one to forward email stories (I like to find my own absurdities in life...), I loved this story and the closing message about the path. And having life define your family. Beautiful.

enjoy.
cgh

*_*_*_*_*_*_

There is much to be learned from our animal brethren. Life without prejudice, presumption or filters, a life lived in the present, meaningful and with love.

Hippopotamus and the Tortoise

'Much of life can never be explained but only witnessed.'- Rachel Naomi Remen, MD

NAIROBI (AFP) - A baby hippopotamus that survived the tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast has formed a strong
bond with a giant male century-old tortoise in an animal facility in the port city of Mombassa, officials said.

The hippopotamus, nicknamed Owen and weighing about 300 kilograms (650 pounds), was swept down Sabaki
River into the Indian Ocean, then forced back to shore when tsunami waves struck the Kenyan coast on
December 26, before wildlife rangers rescued him.

'It is incredible. A-less-than-a-year-old hippo has adopted a male tortoise, about a century old, and the tortoise seems to
be very happy with being a 'mother',' ecologist Paula Kahumbu, who is in charge of Lafarge Park, told AFP.

'After it was swept away and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatized. It had to look for something to be a surrogate mother.
Fortunately, it landed on the tortoise and established a strong bond.'

'They swim, eat and sleep together,' the ecologist added.

'The hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it followed its mother. If somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes
aggressive, as if protecting its biological mother,' Kahumbu added.

'The hippo is a young baby, he was left at a very tender age and by nature, hippos are social animals that like to stay with their
mothers for four years,' he explained.

'Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away.'

This is a real story that shows that our differences don't matter much when we need the comfort of another.

We could all learn a lesson from these two creatures of God,

'Look beyond the differences and find a way to walk the path together.'

Save the Earth... it's the only planet with chocolate...