Bad Day, And It's Only 0940...

I thought I was doing ok this morning, and then I went to my dentist appointment.

I like our dentist ok, and the staff are always polite. They always take my blood pressure before they start, and this morning mine was 149/97. They repeated it 3 times, and they were all about the same. I guess this shouldn't come as a shock since a couple weeks ago when I gave blood they measured me at 160/90. I attributed that to the anatomy test I had literally just finished 5 minutes prior. But now, 2 independent readings are tough to ignore.

And that's how it started.

I told my wife by text, and got an immediate phone call--obviously she was concerned. So we tried to figure out how to fix this. I could exercise more, that's for sure, but on the other hand because of school I've been walking at least 30 minutes a day just getting from remote parking to class and back. So I'm actually in better shape now than when I was a few months ago. Can't really modify my diet much--I'm a vegetarian, although I've been slipping a little lately.

So that brings up stress. And there is absolutely nothing I can do about that. I've got $200,000.00 in student loan debt that I have no way of paying right now. The degree that money bought is worthless to me to earn even enough to make the payments for that loan. Even if I were to declare bankruptcy because I can't pay my bills and have no real prospects of paying my bills, those student loans would remain. How is it that people can run up $200,000 in credit card debt and then go debt free with a quick and easy bankruptcy, but those of us that have tried to better ourselves by going to school have no help when things don't work out as planned? No way out. It was then that I realized the only resource I have right now that has the potential to earn me enough money to pay back my student loan debt?

My life insurance policy.

It's a disheartening thing when you are worth more dead than alive. And that my friends is how a bad day starts.