I spent yesterday afternoon swimming with my granddaughter. We never did get to a movie, so maybe that will happen today? I did put down 3 more bags of “stolen” mulch this morning after my run. Then, it was back in the water. Tomorrow, I go back to the chiropractor, but surprisingly didn’t have any issues during the long drive. I’ll continue to practice prevention. I’m still feeling the effects of a chest cold that has me coughing first thing in the morning and late at night. Recent Covid tests have been negative but it’s definitely some kind of respiratory infection.

Covid could ruin this upcoming trip to Alaska. Any positive test during the border check in Canada or before boarding could send us home. They are not doing as much testing once we get aboard, so there is not the threat of being quarantined below deck as had been the case with other travelers. We’re definitely nervous about this threat to our travel plans and other health issues like Monkey Pox. What me worry? (See Post #514)

I refer to the memorable Alfred Enigma Neuman phrase in Mad Magazine, a staple of my teen years. “Neuman’s famous motto is the intellectually incurious “What, me worry?” This was changed for one issue to ‘Yes, me worry!’ after the Three Mile Island accident in 1979. On the cover of current printings of the paperback The Ides of Mad, as rendered by long-time cover artist Norman Mingo, Neuman is portrayed as a Roman bust with his catch phrase engraved on the base, translated into Dog Latin – Quid, Me Anxius Sum?”

Yes, I’m a worrier, so I could always relate to this  character who appears like he doesn’t have a care in the world. I’m certainly not an optimist when it comes to my future. My philosophy is to think about all the things that could go wrong, so they don’t! I call it the power of negative thinking, but my wife finds it annoying. An engineer at work always said, “What could go wrong?” I always found this to be a humorous approach, and saw him as prepared for any problems should they come along. Fortunately, for me, most of the things that I worry about never happen. What, me worry?