Here we go for round two of #PanCholLiveToot!

My laptop went crazy again, but this time it did it gradually while I was using it, so I was able to figure out that the problem is one of firefox's WebExtensions processes is sucking up all my memory.
Remember when 16GB of RAM was enough to run Linux?
I don't want to waste any more time now dealing with this so as a stopgap I just added a 16GB swap file to the 4GB of zramswap already configured.
I'll need figure out at some point which extension is leaking RAM, but not now.
#PanCholLiveToot

Good morning #PanCholLiveToot fans! How are y'all doing today? I had a decent night's sleep in my dark, quiet isolation room, though it would have been longer if I hadn't binge-watched 7+ hours of Babylon 5 before going to sleep.
The episode where EarthGov tries to torture a confession out of Sheridan ("Intersections in Real Time") is extremely well-done and absolutely horrifying.

This was dinner last night. In Sodexo's defense, this is exactly what I ordered, so if it's a little sparse that's my fault.
The mac & cheese was not noteworthy. The steamed broccoli was good and I wish they had given me more of it.
Dinner a half hour later than it was supposed to. Grr.
The food menu claims food service opens at 6:30am, but if you call when they're closed the automated message says they open at 7:00am.
Apparently consistency is too much to expect.
#PanCholLiveToot

Today I am hoping to have a productive, full work day!
#PanCholLiveToot

Here's this morning's breakfast. It arrived in record time and both the potatoes and the apple compote were actually pretty good. The menu claims the pancakes are gluten free. If that's accurate then I'm impressed, because I couldn't tell. If it's not accurate than uh-oh.
#PanCholLiveToot

I asked the nurse this morning for a couple Tylenol because I woke up with a headache, presumably from bingeing TV until 1:30am (bad idea, do not recommend). When she brought the Tylenol it came with my daily vitamin D pill. And I mean literally _my_ vitamin D pill, i.e., it's from a bottle of pills I brought to the hospital from home. As per hospital policy, I had to turn it over to the pharmacy yesterday so they could dispense it during my stay. Srsly.
#PanCholLiveToot

I had another blood draw this morning, fortunately with only 3 vials rather than yesterday's 7 vials. And they managed to get what they needed with just one venipuncture, so that was nice.
#PanCholLiveToot

Those of you who were with me on this journey the last time around may recall that it involves collecting stool samples. That's happening this time as well, starting today (I got a free pass yesterday). The procedure hasn't changed from last time, so if you're curious you can read what I wrote about it before, at https://federate.social/@jik/113414002326890114 or https://blog.kamens.us/2025/09/04/panchol-clinical-trial-thread-unroll/#poop .
#PanCholLiveToot

The nurses are cool about it, but I have to say it's really weird to press the call button and then when the nurse comes in say, "Here, I have some poop for you!" and hand them the equivalent of a sorbet tub with poop in it.
As the nurse was leaving the room a few minutes ago after giving me the sample container to use, she said, "Thanks for your poop!"
#PanCholLiveToot

ProTip, courtesy of @msokolov in https://fosstodon.org/@msokolov/115200828334719584: If you're going into the hospital and you'll be showering while you're there, bring a big, fluffy towel with you. Hospital towels are small, scratchy, and threadbare. You will be glad to have a nice one.
Here you can see (half of) the big towel I brought with me vs. a hospital towel.
#PanCholLiveToot

Also, if you expect to be spending a lot of time in bed in the hospital, then as @Adventurer (https://sfba.social/@Adventurer/115199676231327810) and @BonehouseWasps (https://mastodon.social/@BonehouseWasps/115199929810382931) suggest, consider bringing a comfortable robe. I personally did not bring a robe because I'm spending my days up and working, not lying in the hospital bed, and for that I prefer to be dressed in real clothes.
#PanCholLiveToot

Here's a #poll that's relevant to my experience in the hospital for this clinical trial.
Which would you rather have? A week-long vacation where you eat:
#PanCholLiveToot

Personally, there are few things I truly enjoy cooking, and I dislike washing dishes, pots, and pans, so I'd pick mediocre food cooked and cleaned up by others over good food cooked and cleaned up by me. That's why despite my sniping at Sodexo in this thread for not doing such a great job of running the food service at the hospital, I'm not actually all that worked up over it. Everything they've served to me since I arrived yesterday has been edible, which is really all I need.
#PanCholLiveToot

It's worth mentioning that a lot of the things that make people perceive food as "good", e.g., salt and fat, are less healthy. It's not _impossible_ to make food that's both healthy and delicious, but it's more work, and perhaps harder still in large quantities. So it seems like food service at any hospital, which is expected to serve healthy food to a large number of people, is going to find it challenging to make the food consistently delicious.
#PanCholLiveToot

On the other hand, a wealthy friend of mine whose children were born at a hospital in Greenwich, CT, a _very_ wealthy community, told me that hospital had a tradition of serving a steak dinner to the parents after every birth, and it was a _good_ steak dinner.
So I suppose if you're the kind of hospital that caters to rich people and charges fees consistent with that, you _can_ make the food delicious.
#PanCholLiveToot

Story time… There aren't many Boston area kosher caterers, so Jews here tend to experience the same ones over and over at weddings and bar mitzvahs. My wife and I attended many affairs done by "the expensive caterer," but then we went to the wedding of a _very_ wealthy friend, and the food—from that same caterer—was leaps and bounds better than ever before. It turned out there was a "how much it costs absolutely does not matter" level of quality we'd been totally unaware of.
#PanCholLiveToot

I mentioned earlier that when they took my blood pressure during intake it was quite high. That was also true when they took it again yesterday.
Furthermore, several times in the past week I've had unexplained minor chest pains.
I thought this was totally out-of-the-blue, and I was a bit worried, but I just realized what's going on.
I had a cortisone injection in my hip for the first time last Friday. It turns out they can cause elevated blood pressure for 5–7 days.
#PanCholLiveToot

They just took my daily vitals and my BP was at 120/75, a lot better than the 190/95 reading they got when I arrived on Monday! Perhaps the excess cortisone from the hip injection has finished working its way into my bloodstream.
I'm peeved the N.P. who gave me the cortisone shot didn't mention anything about it potentially elevating my blood pressure for a week.
I suppose she didn't know I'd be in the hospital three days later with people taking my BP daily.
#PanCholLiveToot

Me to room service rep: "Please tell me the total calorie count for the meal I ordered?"
Room Service: "The system doesn't tell me that."
Me: "Everyone I've ordered food from since Monday has been able to tell me. I need to know the calorie count for my meal."
RS: "Oh, I don't know how to do it. Please hold, I'm going to transfer you."
*hold music for ~a minute*
RS (same person, not transferred): gives me the calorie count for the meal
Problem solved, no harm done, but still, .
#PanCholLiveToot

They came in this morning and mopped the floor of my room and the connected bathroom. On the one hand, sure, I guess it's important to keep hospital rooms clean. On the other hand, there ain't nobody here but me, and I'm not exactly tracking in dirt from the outside, and I'm only going to be here for a week, so it seems a bit much to mop the floor while I'm here.
#PanCholLiveToot