My wife is very passionate about her work. She wants to work in academia. Jobs in academia in her field are few and far between. I'm not nearly as passionate about my own career. I worked in academia. I didn't find it particularly rewarding. I have trouble finding meaning and value in my life outside of my family.

It was an easy decision. A year and a half ago, I quit my job in academia so that my wife could take a job in her field. We moved to the desert.

I spent 10 months unemployed in the desert. I was a stay-at-home dad for much of that time. I was happy. Taking care of my daughter and son was satisfying. I learned a lot about them. I enjoyed being the "go to" parent for "boo boos" and middle of the night fears. If my kids never grew up, I was set for life. Unfortunately, kids grow up. I didn't like the uncertainty of the future. I wanted something more. Independent of my own concerns about my kids and the future,...

Okay, now that my neck/back pain seems to be leaving me, it's time to revisit the broken baby toe. It seems like it'll never heal. I was toweling off after showering this morning and evidently moved the toe too far. It hurts again although, now that I'm at work and sitting at my desk, it doesn't hurt as badly. I hate breaking toes, the doctors can't do anything for it but tape it up.

sometimes i just like the way lines and words look together.

When I went into the hospital last spring one of the biggest surprises I discovered was that I now have low blood pressure. It never rose above 85/65 or so the entire time I was there. I haven't checked it in a while, but I've no reason to believe that it has changed. I feel it all the time now.

My blood pressure was always pretty consistently 120/80 before - like clockwork. Now my clock is permanently slow, I guess.

I feel perfectly fine most of the time, but if I allow my head to remain lower than the rest of my body for too long I will get a very intense, piercing dizziness accompanied by nausea and headache when I stand back up. So I try and make sure not do that too much, lol. Occasionally I will get a vertigo feeling just lying down flat. It's a bummer because I really hate nausea...I would rather be in pain (most of the time) than be nauseous.

The other major consequence of having low blood pressure is the amount of time it takes...