Darlington International Raceway, 8/31/2019

Darlington International Raceway, 8/31/2019

Sitting here, In the family home in Aiken SC, today, 31 August, 2019, I am watching our local channel 26-1 WAGT-DT, watching, with bated breath, the running of NASCAR at Darlington International Raceway in Darlington South Carolina.

With bated breath, you say, WHAT the HEY!! Well, you see, few people on this earth can say they have experience driving on that track, few people, indeed.

But I am one of those few.

You see, it was a clear blue sky day, in the mid 1970’s when I drove my for-sure “stock” car onto the track there at Darlington.  And did that seem fine! I’d never been there before, (or since, for that matter) but that day was a “gold star” day in my book, and drive I did, as never before! And, of all the participants that day, I crossed that magic line FIRST !!!

Now none of you have probably heard of my feat before now, and there is a reason for that. You see, my reason for being there was highly personal, and, in the long run, quite profitable. Not as a race driver, though. For some reason, the powers that be (or were) had managed to obtain the use of that little white building on the inside of the track, adjacent to the track’s start/finish line to provide a unique test for myself and my cohort working to gain acceptance by the State of South Carolina, of us, as certified water or wastewater treatment plant operators in our fair State. The test I took was the first one, I believe, I had to take to become a certified operator (a test I passed with flying colors) in our state, a test which began a 20 year run of my own doing what I needed to do to provide for my family and provide water and wastewater treatment in our state and the state of Mississippi that would be acceptable and useful to its citizens and to their environment.

And I did my level best to begin that career at the President’s Office building at Darlington Raceway on that day back, as I said, in the mid 1970’s. Quite an accomplishment, and quite a day in my professional life. (And a pretty good story, wouldn’t you say?)

And thanks for reading this little tale on Morningbrain--Deux !!

Stephen V. Geddes, “A” Certified Operator, (Retired) Water and Wastewater (Biological and Physical-Chemical) Treatment. And, OH YES, Driver, on Darlington International Raceway, One Time, and One Time, Only !!!

Need a painkiller? Read this first!

Need a painkiller? Read this first!

Painkillers, like the ubiquitous, it seems, opioids, continue to confound those needing the relief given by the drugs, while avoiding taking them to the point of becoming addicted to the “high” that often accompanies the relief from pain that was the reason for the prescription in the first place. Once some difficult to predict line is crossed, pain relief changes to an addiction requirement. And, while the initial requirement may no longer be needed, the follow-on requirement brings on a mental/physical requirement that is every bit as strong (or, moreso, even) than the original need which brought about the prescription from the user’s doctor.

This situation being understood places both the user and the doctor in a quandary. How is one to avoid, first, the pain and at the same time not become addicted to the medicine (and that “high” it produces) that is giving the pain relief? One way to achieve the needed avoidance is to first understand the situation. One well done explanation may be found in an on-line publication from Johns Hopkins that was provided almost ten years ago, to wit: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/prescribed-a-painkiller-if-its-an-opioid-read-this-first.   Doctors and their patients should review this brief summary before the first pill is prescribed or taken. Information given could be life saving. Two other groups of people who should also take the time to become informed (or more informed) about these drugs and their addictive effects are our lawmakers and the law enforcement community.

If everyone needing to know about these addictive drugs were to take the time to know more about them, perhaps their prescription and proper use could be maintained or initiated without the continued increase in addictive use and deaths seen from the same misuse of the drugs currently continuing to be on the rise, as was found over ten years ago by concerned medical personnel.

Other references that may be helpful are contained in the article. For more recent work, try Google-san. In any case, if you need help with pain, also get help to avoid the problem of addiction--something that would, quite possibly, be worse than the initial problem or the pain associated with it.  Something that, in many cases, led to the addicts death.  Better to deal with the pain some other way than to become one more hopeless addict.