We've all heard terrible stories about pancreatic cancer. Only 9% live beyond five years. I'm around three years in and I look to be in that tiny group. In 2019 pancreatic cancer is incurable. Only a 1930s procedure called Whipple Surgery (there was a Dr. Whipple) has any power and only 1/3 of patients medically qualify and 1/3 of those get my result. Anyway, I've been through anything you can think of medically. I've acquired an army of doctors. Because I'm old I have federally funded Medicare. The entire cost to me to get fixed was $0. I paid for some drugs and parking. That's it. One of my biggest concerns was that every doctor and technician knew what everyone else knew. I take over a dozen pills a day (fewer now than before) and have a catheter port in my chest (I'm not USB compatible) which has been used over 30 times. My physicians are on three different medical records systems. That meant my wife and I became our own fourth system! If there was a place for me to sign so my doctors were unencumbered by HIPAA I would have signed in a minute. In order to protect my privacy this law makes it more difficult for my doctors.

I'm reading Slashdot. I must me somewhat geeky. Got my ham license in 1967 and enjoyed working Morse Code (Hams refer to it as "cw" for continuous wave, a description of its unmodulated carrier).

One summer eve a few friends and I went from our apartments in Queens to the Village. As we walked down St. Marks Place music played from the various record stores on the block. And then I heard it.

The song, "Miss Morse" by Pearls Before Swine is reasonably banal.

Oh Dear, Miss Morse

I want you

Oh yes, I do

I want you

It's when they got to the chorus I stopped in my tracks. I knew I was the only one on St. Marks Place who knew what I knew!

Chorus:

Dit Dit Dah Dit

Dit Dit Dah

Dah Dit Dah Dit

Dah Dit Dah

By the way, 1967 was also the year I took my first and last computer class. I still actively program and work from home because I developed the code that lets me be on TV 1,500 miles from the studio.