Kitchen Table Kibitzing December 14, 2025

KTK

Pills

Taking more than five medications is called polypharmacy. Most people take aspirin or other pain meds early in life. More and more are added as one ages. In my 20s I was prescribed statin for high cholesterol and I’ve taken one daily since then. Now in my 80s I take 5 different pills in the morning and 5 at bedtime. The word “pill” comes from the Latin pilula, meaning “little ball.”

Pills can be medical, supplemental, and recreational. Drug interactions can cause unwanted results, and the more pills one takes, the more likely they may occur. We subscribe to a newsletter called "Worst Pills, Best Pills News”. Every month I check the long list of pills to see if a new discovery reveals that I’ve been doing the wrong thing.

Well, as I was writing this, a bit of excitement, an earthquake! Hanging things began swaying and dishes rattled in the cabinet. The internet described it as: 

M 4.2 - 6 km W of Glen Ellen, CA

• 2025-12-14 23:30:43 (UTC)
• 38.374°N 122.602°W
• 1.9 km depth                              

It was so sudden that it made us realize how fast a total building collapse could occur with no escape. One neighbor came over to see if we were OK; someone had done that for her. I filled out the official USGS  survey report on my experience of the quake at my location.  Astrophysicist Stefan Burns has been accurately predicting recent earthquake swarms due to coronal discharges, but I never thought it would happen here, More exciting than pills, I must say.

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Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share a virtual kitchen table with other readers of Daily Kos who aren’t throwing pies at one another. Drop by to talk about music, your weather, your garden, or what you cooked for supper…. Newcomers may notice that many who post in this series already know one another to some degree, but we welcome guests at our kitchen table and hope to make some new friends as well.