Hi Folks!
Long time no see. Well, there's more to it than just that; there is always more.
It's election time in Florida. You can bet that I have some distinct thoughts about the gubernatorial election coming up. If you have been watching the news, even in Oshkosh, you must have seen the brouhaha regarding a piece of electronic equipment which Mr. Crist had installed in his podium. That there was a tempest in a teapot. And it truly made me, although I was already in his camp, a (you got it) FANatic of Charlie Crist.
Too many folks don't realize that the best work for America has been done by Centrist, or God Forbid Liberal Republicans. Some of the best governors of the state of New York were Centrist Republicans; and I can say sadly that I was not old enough to be able to vote for Mr. Nelson Rockefeller even once!
"Conservative" Republicans or anarchistic Tea Party fanatics will tell you that Crist is a flip-flopper, in it for the money and fame, and not at all concerned with Florida. On the other hand they want to forget that he is a Floridian; and that he went to school here, lived here, and served the community here. Whereas Dick Snott is a life-long CON man. Oh folks, you know I like to give praise when it is truly due. Dick Snott is GOOD at being a CON man and a fine actor to boot. It's just that I am tired of seeing this country torn apart by money grubbing corporations while the rest of us are treated like second class citizens and very soon, if they get their way, SLAVES.
So I don't really have much to say about the gubernatorial elections in Florida .... HA!
There will be more to come on this point.
I will also be covering education (M.S. in Ed.), the influx of children from Mexico and points south (lived and studied in Mexico City for seven and a half years as dad worked as a legal attache to the American Embassy), teaching in the United States, learning in the United States and the economy and the morality of being RICH.
I think that's light reading for any one. Meanwhile I'll ponder the do's and don'ts for a man close to seventy; and how to schedule all the doctor and surgeons appointment so that one might also go out and look at property with realtors (have also sold and listed properties in Florida and before that in Virginia before coming here).
There's more to come on almost everything except quadratic equations. Whichever of you with questions regarding that subject may now leave the room. More to come..........
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Friday, April 18, 2014
To Thine Own Self Be True
It's been awhile since I bothered these pages with news of any kind. This all has to do with my body and me; and parenthetically, your body and you. One week ago yesterday, I was released from the campus of Florida Hospital Rollins in downtown Orlando. That's not where the trip started, though.
Two weeks earlier I appeared in my G.P.'s office with complaints about a sinus infection. He prescribed the normal medicines promptly and left me with this warning, "should this not work out or other symptoms creep up, then please just come down to the office". One week and two days later, the medicine having run out several days earlier, I realized that all was not well. I was tired; excessively tired. I could not sleep on my back or stomach. A comfy chair was best suited for sleeping as everything was kept upright. And then there was the sloshing.
My uncles were both doctors. My brother and I were guinea pigs for almost everything that came down the pike which was not surgeon-ready; as I assume now that they just wanted to be careful in keeping their nephews alive. We were poked and prodded from one end to another. And when dad was assigned a position with the American Embassy in Mexico City, the uncles followed with syringes ready because in the 'states' polio was on the march and they were bringing the latest 'lifesaver' to inject into us. Thus, I am very familiar with the words, cajoling, and psychology necessary to get a patient.....impatient.
Even the fact that I had been carrying around Congestive Heart Failure since it's first appearance in 2001, had no bearing on my mental state. It did not register. And the sloshing, I heard, just reminded me of the boat that my uncles bought together. We had such fun in the Long Island Sound SLOSHING around........an still it did not register.
Only my G.P. on my second visit, after ordering two chest x-rays asked if my wife had driven me to the office. When I affirmed, he said quickly, "you are going in"; and just flat left me in the examining room to await their return.
I am used to this already. Having hit, and successfully passed 67, I thought I could fight almost anyone. This I had not expected. It had come on slowly over a long period of time, but the enlarged ankles and feet did make a statement of their own.
We left his office, went home and packed up a bag with underwear and gym shorts. The idea that another old Geezer would be added to the mix at Florida Hospital in a gown with NO BOTTOM was not in my vocabulary....not at all.
We loaded up the car. especially with me, and headed off to FH. I had been there many times over the years since my first bout with CHF. And every time we went, the ER was crowded with people. Where were they at four thirty in the afternoon? The place was, you'll excuse the expression, like a morgue. But that was good. I was admitted and placed in my own room in the ER. And then came the fun.
Early tests did not make the staff happy. They wanted to send me home. It was after my cardiologist chimed in that I stayed and got a semi-private room. I had patches all over. It had occurred to me that they were going to change my oil also because I had to tubes in each arm ready for placement .... of something.
I stayed there that Friday night until Monday afternoon. Tests had shown dark splotches in my chest. Little did I know that the heart was afloat in water. Remember the sloshing? They were amazied that I could stand, if not walk. I was pretty amazed too.
My cardiologist made a surprise visit to the room. He told me how sick I really was and that there was a helicopter waiting for me downstairs to spirit me off to FH Rollins, which is the downtown campus of Florida Hospital. In addition, we had to call my wife so that she might get here early to pick up my belongings and rush across town to meet me in Recovery after the DRAINING. I called her and announced I was leaving for FH Rollins. She started the ball rolling at home. The Thorcic surgeon on staff had been advised that a patient was coming from across town. He and his staff were awaiting me. I didn't even get the chance to feel fear about flying strapped into a 'copter. Amazing.
It was all over before six p.m. I was recovering, and my wife had just arrived. They removed two point three litres of water just in the first incursion. A drain attached to a very light and portable pump were left attached to my lower chest. Not much fluid emanated after that; and by that Thursday afternoon, I was discharged
But that's not the whole story. I want to commend everyone at both FH campuses. They made a difficult move easy ...... What I really want to say here is that when push came to shove, they all acted. Except that now that I am out of the hospital, I still have to go to outside agencies, as I have for lo these many years, for blood to be drawn and tests to be made.
The name of the company rhymes with a cardinal point on the map of the world.
Two months ago, I had gone there for my normal series of blood tests. One month later, I received a letter telling me that one of the tests was not necessary and that a particular insurance company would not pay for it. That was interesting, because the payor of the test was Medicare. And they had NEVER not paid such a test because it is tied intrinsically to my ingestion of Warfarin. When I got home from the hospital, there was another such letter awaiting me. Earlier, I had called their home office to complain. They re-submitted it to Medicare and all was well. Now here i was at home, leaving the house for blood tests, and getting the ROYAL injection in the rear.
It turns out that these boys are so incompetent that they do not instruct their worker ants to get new information on each patient every time. All I ever got was the question regarding my insurance, usually in the following manner ..... "you still with United?" And I would answer that Medicare is my primary and United my secondary. "Do you want to see the cards?" I would ask. And the answer was always no ..... and on we went happy happy.
Turns out that the home office wants to see the cards EVERY SINGLE TIME because they do not SAVE the information in their computer. These folks are idiots.....or damned smart....and here is why I say this. If they wait for Medicare to pay off a test done in April, it could be payday by June. If they coerce the patient to pay up now ... well then .... that much the better. Are you still with me?
You NEED to check with your Lab now to find out if they are using computers in the way they were meant to be used. Computers do repetetive tasks gladly and never quarrel. They also hold what is meaningless to you and me in secret....and it can be held in secret for a price....so as to save money and make the whole process invisible to the PATIENT.
I don't know if they are all doing this, but some of them for sure are; and it's not right. Today's tests will be bounced again in a month. You can be sure that the next time I go for blood tests or Urineanalysis I will pull out my cards and make sure that they bill the correct one.
Other than that......heh heh heh heh ..... I feel as right as rain.
Two weeks earlier I appeared in my G.P.'s office with complaints about a sinus infection. He prescribed the normal medicines promptly and left me with this warning, "should this not work out or other symptoms creep up, then please just come down to the office". One week and two days later, the medicine having run out several days earlier, I realized that all was not well. I was tired; excessively tired. I could not sleep on my back or stomach. A comfy chair was best suited for sleeping as everything was kept upright. And then there was the sloshing.
My uncles were both doctors. My brother and I were guinea pigs for almost everything that came down the pike which was not surgeon-ready; as I assume now that they just wanted to be careful in keeping their nephews alive. We were poked and prodded from one end to another. And when dad was assigned a position with the American Embassy in Mexico City, the uncles followed with syringes ready because in the 'states' polio was on the march and they were bringing the latest 'lifesaver' to inject into us. Thus, I am very familiar with the words, cajoling, and psychology necessary to get a patient.....impatient.
Even the fact that I had been carrying around Congestive Heart Failure since it's first appearance in 2001, had no bearing on my mental state. It did not register. And the sloshing, I heard, just reminded me of the boat that my uncles bought together. We had such fun in the Long Island Sound SLOSHING around........an still it did not register.
Only my G.P. on my second visit, after ordering two chest x-rays asked if my wife had driven me to the office. When I affirmed, he said quickly, "you are going in"; and just flat left me in the examining room to await their return.
I am used to this already. Having hit, and successfully passed 67, I thought I could fight almost anyone. This I had not expected. It had come on slowly over a long period of time, but the enlarged ankles and feet did make a statement of their own.
We left his office, went home and packed up a bag with underwear and gym shorts. The idea that another old Geezer would be added to the mix at Florida Hospital in a gown with NO BOTTOM was not in my vocabulary....not at all.
We loaded up the car. especially with me, and headed off to FH. I had been there many times over the years since my first bout with CHF. And every time we went, the ER was crowded with people. Where were they at four thirty in the afternoon? The place was, you'll excuse the expression, like a morgue. But that was good. I was admitted and placed in my own room in the ER. And then came the fun.
Early tests did not make the staff happy. They wanted to send me home. It was after my cardiologist chimed in that I stayed and got a semi-private room. I had patches all over. It had occurred to me that they were going to change my oil also because I had to tubes in each arm ready for placement .... of something.
I stayed there that Friday night until Monday afternoon. Tests had shown dark splotches in my chest. Little did I know that the heart was afloat in water. Remember the sloshing? They were amazied that I could stand, if not walk. I was pretty amazed too.
My cardiologist made a surprise visit to the room. He told me how sick I really was and that there was a helicopter waiting for me downstairs to spirit me off to FH Rollins, which is the downtown campus of Florida Hospital. In addition, we had to call my wife so that she might get here early to pick up my belongings and rush across town to meet me in Recovery after the DRAINING. I called her and announced I was leaving for FH Rollins. She started the ball rolling at home. The Thorcic surgeon on staff had been advised that a patient was coming from across town. He and his staff were awaiting me. I didn't even get the chance to feel fear about flying strapped into a 'copter. Amazing.
It was all over before six p.m. I was recovering, and my wife had just arrived. They removed two point three litres of water just in the first incursion. A drain attached to a very light and portable pump were left attached to my lower chest. Not much fluid emanated after that; and by that Thursday afternoon, I was discharged
But that's not the whole story. I want to commend everyone at both FH campuses. They made a difficult move easy ...... What I really want to say here is that when push came to shove, they all acted. Except that now that I am out of the hospital, I still have to go to outside agencies, as I have for lo these many years, for blood to be drawn and tests to be made.
The name of the company rhymes with a cardinal point on the map of the world.
Two months ago, I had gone there for my normal series of blood tests. One month later, I received a letter telling me that one of the tests was not necessary and that a particular insurance company would not pay for it. That was interesting, because the payor of the test was Medicare. And they had NEVER not paid such a test because it is tied intrinsically to my ingestion of Warfarin. When I got home from the hospital, there was another such letter awaiting me. Earlier, I had called their home office to complain. They re-submitted it to Medicare and all was well. Now here i was at home, leaving the house for blood tests, and getting the ROYAL injection in the rear.
It turns out that these boys are so incompetent that they do not instruct their worker ants to get new information on each patient every time. All I ever got was the question regarding my insurance, usually in the following manner ..... "you still with United?" And I would answer that Medicare is my primary and United my secondary. "Do you want to see the cards?" I would ask. And the answer was always no ..... and on we went happy happy.
Turns out that the home office wants to see the cards EVERY SINGLE TIME because they do not SAVE the information in their computer. These folks are idiots.....or damned smart....and here is why I say this. If they wait for Medicare to pay off a test done in April, it could be payday by June. If they coerce the patient to pay up now ... well then .... that much the better. Are you still with me?
You NEED to check with your Lab now to find out if they are using computers in the way they were meant to be used. Computers do repetetive tasks gladly and never quarrel. They also hold what is meaningless to you and me in secret....and it can be held in secret for a price....so as to save money and make the whole process invisible to the PATIENT.
I don't know if they are all doing this, but some of them for sure are; and it's not right. Today's tests will be bounced again in a month. You can be sure that the next time I go for blood tests or Urineanalysis I will pull out my cards and make sure that they bill the correct one.
Other than that......heh heh heh heh ..... I feel as right as rain.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Windoze Ate
Well here we all are back on the 'funway'. It seems that the boys in Washington have a new toy for us. I am at the very least shy to try it; and for good reason. It was designed for someone else; that someone who likes purty party lights and shots of Tequila followed by 16 ounces of real Budweiser; not that watered down garbage...real man beer...for the real beer gut. Folks like this buy every new game that comes along and also follow the leader on the web going from location to location to play the latest and the greatest. Finally, the PC comes into its own. It is a machine which can play games. The days of crunching numbers, making estimates, keeping track of inventories, writing novelas, poetry, and F U letters ....well maybe not F U letters..... have drawn to a close.
Windows 8 is pretty. And that is that. Useful, it is not. Helpful, it is not. The brain trust at Microsoft has already decided that the public will be goaded into purchasing screens which can be swiped with various combination of fingers to do what the mouse STILL so admirably and easily does. Things we took for granted are hidden behind waves of incomprehensible doorways which must be negotiated just to uninstall a file..... What is this?
Ubuntu Linux, even taking into account that the latest disribution has an interface which many users do not like, is thousands of times better than Windows. And Ubuntu Linux is faster, easier to use, more productive, and can read books, play music, and get you into Netflix such as never before. To this day, however, and to its detriment in the minds of game frenzied space maggots there are still no games such as those available on WINDOZE. WHO CARES?
This last build I have put together to take the place of my HTPC running Windows 7 in the living room uses the new A series chip from AMD. The video is part of the CPU; such that GPU and CPU use the same small space. And it works. It works very well. And it does a fantastic job on HD movies and videos on my 50" LG Plasma. The screen is still. The colors accurate. And the resolution is right up there. The only thing wrong is that it is running Windows 8 as a favor to my wife. The machine exiting the living room is going to my son in Nashville. It is running Windows 7. I wish I could keep that one. No use crying over spilled milk. This experiment is showing me that Windows has not come a long way. It is still stuck with the same old add on architecture it has been dragging along for all these years. There are more holes in Windows 8 than can be found in a round of Swiss Cheese. Horrible pop up ads appear everywhere. And even when one asks for a download of a given program, it drags along all kinds of commercial garbage it can find along the way. Funny, Linux programs are generally all free, and are free of tag-along advertising. Isn't that what we were trying to achieve with the ALL PAY Microsoft computing system?
The opening screen in the new windows is a wall of colorful blocks. It makes me think that the producers of the software feel that we cannot work above the age of third graders and need to be talked down to at all times. It doesn't get any better. The cute backgrounds continue with lots of movement and ever-changing headlines. There are no paragraphs of written material; only short sentences which beg one to touch the screen for the rest of the story. But don't tarry, they only last an instant. My attention span is a lot longer than that folks. I am not a second-grader. I don't like information in bite sized pieces. This Windows 8 is garbage at any price.
I know that I am not alone. Great business aggregations are NOT buying Windows 8 because it does not fit in their workplace. Windows is cute, not production driven. I used to work at Unemployment for the state of Florida. A touch screen would have been completely useless and a real waste of time in our workday. Some of them will transform their systems to Linux; not many, but enough to prove that Linux has grown up so much that it is workable with its handy GUI in the day to day workplace. And then, the user at work will realize that the file system is so logical, and easy to use that there will be no need for the Windows crazy system of music files all over the place. In Linux it is root and branches and that's it. The same name can be on a folder in several places in Windows. That's not confusing?
I had purchased two Windows 8 home versions from Tiger Direct at an incredible discount. This one will stay on the machine. The other will go up for sale on EBAY. I can't sit down at the computer only to have to do house-keeping and inane searches all night looking for help when the same thing might be accomplished on a Linux machine in a much shorter and happier time. That's it. That's all. Dump Windoze.
Windows 8 is pretty. And that is that. Useful, it is not. Helpful, it is not. The brain trust at Microsoft has already decided that the public will be goaded into purchasing screens which can be swiped with various combination of fingers to do what the mouse STILL so admirably and easily does. Things we took for granted are hidden behind waves of incomprehensible doorways which must be negotiated just to uninstall a file..... What is this?
Ubuntu Linux, even taking into account that the latest disribution has an interface which many users do not like, is thousands of times better than Windows. And Ubuntu Linux is faster, easier to use, more productive, and can read books, play music, and get you into Netflix such as never before. To this day, however, and to its detriment in the minds of game frenzied space maggots there are still no games such as those available on WINDOZE. WHO CARES?
This last build I have put together to take the place of my HTPC running Windows 7 in the living room uses the new A series chip from AMD. The video is part of the CPU; such that GPU and CPU use the same small space. And it works. It works very well. And it does a fantastic job on HD movies and videos on my 50" LG Plasma. The screen is still. The colors accurate. And the resolution is right up there. The only thing wrong is that it is running Windows 8 as a favor to my wife. The machine exiting the living room is going to my son in Nashville. It is running Windows 7. I wish I could keep that one. No use crying over spilled milk. This experiment is showing me that Windows has not come a long way. It is still stuck with the same old add on architecture it has been dragging along for all these years. There are more holes in Windows 8 than can be found in a round of Swiss Cheese. Horrible pop up ads appear everywhere. And even when one asks for a download of a given program, it drags along all kinds of commercial garbage it can find along the way. Funny, Linux programs are generally all free, and are free of tag-along advertising. Isn't that what we were trying to achieve with the ALL PAY Microsoft computing system?
The opening screen in the new windows is a wall of colorful blocks. It makes me think that the producers of the software feel that we cannot work above the age of third graders and need to be talked down to at all times. It doesn't get any better. The cute backgrounds continue with lots of movement and ever-changing headlines. There are no paragraphs of written material; only short sentences which beg one to touch the screen for the rest of the story. But don't tarry, they only last an instant. My attention span is a lot longer than that folks. I am not a second-grader. I don't like information in bite sized pieces. This Windows 8 is garbage at any price.
I know that I am not alone. Great business aggregations are NOT buying Windows 8 because it does not fit in their workplace. Windows is cute, not production driven. I used to work at Unemployment for the state of Florida. A touch screen would have been completely useless and a real waste of time in our workday. Some of them will transform their systems to Linux; not many, but enough to prove that Linux has grown up so much that it is workable with its handy GUI in the day to day workplace. And then, the user at work will realize that the file system is so logical, and easy to use that there will be no need for the Windows crazy system of music files all over the place. In Linux it is root and branches and that's it. The same name can be on a folder in several places in Windows. That's not confusing?
I had purchased two Windows 8 home versions from Tiger Direct at an incredible discount. This one will stay on the machine. The other will go up for sale on EBAY. I can't sit down at the computer only to have to do house-keeping and inane searches all night looking for help when the same thing might be accomplished on a Linux machine in a much shorter and happier time. That's it. That's all. Dump Windoze.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Here we are skipping into May, la-de-da and other such, and my latest Atlantic Monthly arrives with the news that we may NEVER run out of oil. Isn't that grand? Here we have all been worrying, well not the absolute right wringers (hands and such dontchaknow),that everything would come to a stop in the Western world and our red capitalistic friends in Peking (I still think of it as a duck) manage to get along with smog the thickness of Carvel, and a penchant to create a car which runs completely on coal. It could happen.....
So I, to get out of Hellando from time to time, take the South Korean SUV on the road to the home of country music several times a year. At least in Nashville, there are seasons which change on a regular schedule. It's nice to say that one is on the verge of planting and weeding again and to have a Spring which lasts more than a day or two. Mind you, Hellando has two definite seasons; one hot as Hell and the other not so much. That makes the 'city beautiful' (for real ... ask the chamber of commerce) home to all the n'er do wells of the U.S.A. and several other countries for most of the year. Hellando and its' environs used to be pretty. Now, with the onset of Mickey mania and Universal days in the water and upchucking after a flight on the Hell mobiles (better known in my time as roller coasters), there is no place safe at all in this state. We are governed by a man who calls himself Rick Scott. What happened to real names like Grover Cleveland, George Washington, and Samuel Adams....oops....he became a pricey beer.....
There is no hope for this state. I lived in Mexico as a child and speak English almost as well as Spanish. Florida needs to move all the WASPS north of Gainsville, and give the rest of the territory south therefrom to the keys to the new state of Miami. That makes sense. As one approaches Miami on I95 one can scan the AM dial and find that the Cuban radio stations come in more clearly than some of the fire and brimstone religious outlets broadcasting locally. Down in the keys I imagine that with the help of a good outdoor antenna system, on a HOT as HELL summer afternoon, one might enjoy that pina colada and Cuban baseball on the tele......but that's for the future. All the Puerto Ricans who cannot back their own 'isla de encanto' for complete statehood will surely find something to do in the new state of Miami. There will be jobs created for those seeking to work as border guards; and of course, the legions of Limbaugh fans can get jobs erecting the wall of separation between the white breads and the bean eaters. Sharpshooters will be needed. That will make the NRA happy.
My wife asked me yesterday what neutral country was I thinking of moving to....... I'll tell you a secret..... With Spring in Hellando coming on.....all I can think of is escape. Two things are for sure. Wherever my wife and I manage to go to retire there will be more than two lousy seasons, fewer crowds, more trees and hills, and you can bet your bottom dollar that I will not divulge the location. Signed....TeaGee .... Ticked Off
So I, to get out of Hellando from time to time, take the South Korean SUV on the road to the home of country music several times a year. At least in Nashville, there are seasons which change on a regular schedule. It's nice to say that one is on the verge of planting and weeding again and to have a Spring which lasts more than a day or two. Mind you, Hellando has two definite seasons; one hot as Hell and the other not so much. That makes the 'city beautiful' (for real ... ask the chamber of commerce) home to all the n'er do wells of the U.S.A. and several other countries for most of the year. Hellando and its' environs used to be pretty. Now, with the onset of Mickey mania and Universal days in the water and upchucking after a flight on the Hell mobiles (better known in my time as roller coasters), there is no place safe at all in this state. We are governed by a man who calls himself Rick Scott. What happened to real names like Grover Cleveland, George Washington, and Samuel Adams....oops....he became a pricey beer.....
There is no hope for this state. I lived in Mexico as a child and speak English almost as well as Spanish. Florida needs to move all the WASPS north of Gainsville, and give the rest of the territory south therefrom to the keys to the new state of Miami. That makes sense. As one approaches Miami on I95 one can scan the AM dial and find that the Cuban radio stations come in more clearly than some of the fire and brimstone religious outlets broadcasting locally. Down in the keys I imagine that with the help of a good outdoor antenna system, on a HOT as HELL summer afternoon, one might enjoy that pina colada and Cuban baseball on the tele......but that's for the future. All the Puerto Ricans who cannot back their own 'isla de encanto' for complete statehood will surely find something to do in the new state of Miami. There will be jobs created for those seeking to work as border guards; and of course, the legions of Limbaugh fans can get jobs erecting the wall of separation between the white breads and the bean eaters. Sharpshooters will be needed. That will make the NRA happy.
My wife asked me yesterday what neutral country was I thinking of moving to....... I'll tell you a secret..... With Spring in Hellando coming on.....all I can think of is escape. Two things are for sure. Wherever my wife and I manage to go to retire there will be more than two lousy seasons, fewer crowds, more trees and hills, and you can bet your bottom dollar that I will not divulge the location. Signed....TeaGee .... Ticked Off
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
It's 4:47 a.m. Hotlando, Florida time. This is Hotlando, the world of two seasons; one not exceptionally cold, and the other hot as Hell. It's HAH here in Whorelando for way too many weeks of the year. We draw on the malevolent resources of all the other states in the winter for the scum which lubricate the wheels of crime. They love Whorelando and the heat just brings more of them. Because of the scum from the upper 49, there is no peace here. There are lots of churches; way too many churches, but no peace of mind. Traffic sucks and the lemon on-your-left is probably trying to figure out how to pick your pocket.
I have seen videos of the scum here in Florida. One which stands out vibrantly is a picture of a man in a wheelchair rolling himself down the street from an ATM. Some very young black dude approaches him, proffers a handgun, and then pistol-whips the older gentleman before taking the envelope containing his money and running down the street. See the wheelchair on its side. See the old man helpless on his side in the now turned-over wheelchair. Nobody cares. Nobody knows. Nobody sees. Ou sont les polices?
It's too damned hot here too be healthy. When there were fewer people and a lot more trees, nature cooled the heat off somewhat with a wet breeze or two. Second stories would have the windows open all day, and the hot air would have somewhere to escape. Now we have to build homes like small fortresses and condition the air for all seasons. These houses smell bad if they are not aired out on a timely basis. We all smell of rot and mold if we are not aired out and cleaned on a timely basis. That is the curse of present-day Florida.
Don't believe the glorified pictures of people running down a deserted beach into a glorious sunset. Ask Henry Ford and Thomas Edison what the Summers were like on the west coast when they lived here. Go and visit their houses. If not for the screens all around, the houses were kept open all day and practically all night. The air had to move through and find its own way; not anymore. Leave the bottom windows open and you invite any number of parasites on two feet to move in with you and share your 'goodies'. I hate this place and its politics.
The right-wing politicos here are smarmy and truthless at best. Even, God forbid, the Democrats are rats in a sinking ship. Don't ask about our governor. Read about him. He is a case for great study.....and how he bought himself an election. This state stinks.
I am making plans to get out of here and finally retire anywhere else. I'd like to stay in the states, but Australia looks good. Because I grew up in a diplomats family in Mexico City, I know of some spots where I could go and hide until death comes along. I don't have an American accent. My Spanish is very good. I have been mistaken as a resident of Mexico, D.F.; and well I should be. That's where I grew up; where politicos of all parties were smarmy and bellicose, and nobody believed them or the church. That may be my solution.
Buenos dias senor. Puedo ayudarle con sus maletas?
I have seen videos of the scum here in Florida. One which stands out vibrantly is a picture of a man in a wheelchair rolling himself down the street from an ATM. Some very young black dude approaches him, proffers a handgun, and then pistol-whips the older gentleman before taking the envelope containing his money and running down the street. See the wheelchair on its side. See the old man helpless on his side in the now turned-over wheelchair. Nobody cares. Nobody knows. Nobody sees. Ou sont les polices?
It's too damned hot here too be healthy. When there were fewer people and a lot more trees, nature cooled the heat off somewhat with a wet breeze or two. Second stories would have the windows open all day, and the hot air would have somewhere to escape. Now we have to build homes like small fortresses and condition the air for all seasons. These houses smell bad if they are not aired out on a timely basis. We all smell of rot and mold if we are not aired out and cleaned on a timely basis. That is the curse of present-day Florida.
Don't believe the glorified pictures of people running down a deserted beach into a glorious sunset. Ask Henry Ford and Thomas Edison what the Summers were like on the west coast when they lived here. Go and visit their houses. If not for the screens all around, the houses were kept open all day and practically all night. The air had to move through and find its own way; not anymore. Leave the bottom windows open and you invite any number of parasites on two feet to move in with you and share your 'goodies'. I hate this place and its politics.
The right-wing politicos here are smarmy and truthless at best. Even, God forbid, the Democrats are rats in a sinking ship. Don't ask about our governor. Read about him. He is a case for great study.....and how he bought himself an election. This state stinks.
I am making plans to get out of here and finally retire anywhere else. I'd like to stay in the states, but Australia looks good. Because I grew up in a diplomats family in Mexico City, I know of some spots where I could go and hide until death comes along. I don't have an American accent. My Spanish is very good. I have been mistaken as a resident of Mexico, D.F.; and well I should be. That's where I grew up; where politicos of all parties were smarmy and bellicose, and nobody believed them or the church. That may be my solution.
Buenos dias senor. Puedo ayudarle con sus maletas?
Friday, June 24, 2011
Tall trees from little acorns.......
Just a quick note regarding our economic situation. What situation? I didn't do this. I had no hand in this; but the Republican soothsayers and their teabagging friends want us to all lock step and follow them into the past to re-live the joys of Nazidom. Where is the freedom of press? Where is the freedom of speech? And where is the justice for all of us when way too many of THEM profited by the nonsense going on in the halls of government and finance.
It doesn't take a PhD. to figure out who is getting doubled over for a royal screwing in the next election. Watch carefully as those right wing (I'll never call them conservatives....William Buckley must be twirling in his grave) AHoles try to pin the ills of the world on the present resident of the White House.
During the first two years of his presidency, he and his financial experts tried one way to get us out of the problem; namely spend us out. This works if the people in the middle and the bottom of the economy spend the cuts and tax savings given back to them. The upper crust keep the savings to in new financial paper. They do not, as those brainiacs would have you believe, put the money back into business to create jobs. They pull all the wagons into a circle and divide up the freebies given to them by US.
Protections for the working class in this country are now being sold away as so many scrap cars going to the re-cycling bin. Unions will be as hard to find in this country as hens' teeth. Mark my words, if we don't drop into a second recession (early depression) by the beginning of the fourth quarter, I'll take up smoking and drinking again while standing in an open grave; not too far to fall when the end comes.
I believe in the United States of America. I believe in its people. I do not believe in organized religion and lock-step organized democracy. Such a thing cannot be. It is a dictatorship either of one person or the proletariat as a whole; and we all know how successful such a dictatorship was for the fine people of Russia. Aren't they all driving Mercedes Benz now??? Some folks in China have learned to live with the enemy and make some money. We send them money and they send us junk; and that's O.K. with the politicians here at home. Gimme my cut, I gotta get to the game.
We are still in for a rough ride. I see that there are some people who feel that the worst is over. These folks have put houses back on the market at ridiculous prices which rival the psychotic amounts we saw when the 'Bubble' burst. They ain't a gonna get that money back....not right away; and not for at least five to seven years. The houses and properties were fifty to one hundred per cent over-priced. There are still more foreclosures to come I am sorry to say.
What's scary is that even John Boehner ( I hope I spelled that correctly ) is starting to sound like the voice of reason in Washington. He understands that there can be a two or more party system, but something has to give. Not taxing the rich and giving everything away to offshore corporations just flushes our hard work right out to sea. It's fine to be hard left or hard right, but in the reality of the light of day such thinking only drags us away from what we want to be; what we can and should continue to be. This is not a country that raises the flag because it is told to do so; it is a country that respects itself and the generations which came before for all the hard work expended to give us the freedoms and rights which are the envy of the rest of the world.
We must move ahead; but cautiously. We must remember that although the house of cards came down in only a few days, re-building will take a bit longer. For our children and their children to come we have to bite the bullet and get this done; but get it done right.
It doesn't take a PhD. to figure out who is getting doubled over for a royal screwing in the next election. Watch carefully as those right wing (I'll never call them conservatives....William Buckley must be twirling in his grave) AHoles try to pin the ills of the world on the present resident of the White House.
During the first two years of his presidency, he and his financial experts tried one way to get us out of the problem; namely spend us out. This works if the people in the middle and the bottom of the economy spend the cuts and tax savings given back to them. The upper crust keep the savings to in new financial paper. They do not, as those brainiacs would have you believe, put the money back into business to create jobs. They pull all the wagons into a circle and divide up the freebies given to them by US.
Protections for the working class in this country are now being sold away as so many scrap cars going to the re-cycling bin. Unions will be as hard to find in this country as hens' teeth. Mark my words, if we don't drop into a second recession (early depression) by the beginning of the fourth quarter, I'll take up smoking and drinking again while standing in an open grave; not too far to fall when the end comes.
I believe in the United States of America. I believe in its people. I do not believe in organized religion and lock-step organized democracy. Such a thing cannot be. It is a dictatorship either of one person or the proletariat as a whole; and we all know how successful such a dictatorship was for the fine people of Russia. Aren't they all driving Mercedes Benz now??? Some folks in China have learned to live with the enemy and make some money. We send them money and they send us junk; and that's O.K. with the politicians here at home. Gimme my cut, I gotta get to the game.
We are still in for a rough ride. I see that there are some people who feel that the worst is over. These folks have put houses back on the market at ridiculous prices which rival the psychotic amounts we saw when the 'Bubble' burst. They ain't a gonna get that money back....not right away; and not for at least five to seven years. The houses and properties were fifty to one hundred per cent over-priced. There are still more foreclosures to come I am sorry to say.
What's scary is that even John Boehner ( I hope I spelled that correctly ) is starting to sound like the voice of reason in Washington. He understands that there can be a two or more party system, but something has to give. Not taxing the rich and giving everything away to offshore corporations just flushes our hard work right out to sea. It's fine to be hard left or hard right, but in the reality of the light of day such thinking only drags us away from what we want to be; what we can and should continue to be. This is not a country that raises the flag because it is told to do so; it is a country that respects itself and the generations which came before for all the hard work expended to give us the freedoms and rights which are the envy of the rest of the world.
We must move ahead; but cautiously. We must remember that although the house of cards came down in only a few days, re-building will take a bit longer. For our children and their children to come we have to bite the bullet and get this done; but get it done right.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Some Kind of Wonderful
Here we are mid-May 2011 and I haven't added any thoughts since almost a year ago. It's high time folks. And I may mean 'high' advisedly.
Since 2004 I have been suffering with increasingly bad back pains. At one point, just moving my head left or right would bring up that familiar sound of twigs being stepped on in the woods. Occasionally, the noise would be so loud that another member of the family might call out, "what's that?" I would quietly answer, "me".
Ignorance is surely bliss. I let it go just a little too far and it is leading to surgery of the spine. Two specialists I have consulted called it a variety of 'stenosis'. The two dollar explanation is that through years of use, the spine gets worn down. To some people it is earlier. To some it is later. And to some lucky few it never happens at all. I fall into the first group.
There are three three discs in the uper spine below the skull which are causing the unbelievable back aches, cracking sound, and just all around PAIN. Shortly, after my wife and I meet with the first specialist tomorrow, we will decide on a plan of action. I believe that I can have the procedure done in the coming two weeks, count two days at a local hospital, and then home again home again....etc. etc. ....
The three discs will have their walls sheared off, the interior cleaned, and a piece of somebody elses' bone attached to the outside of each with a Titanium strap screwed in place to hold it all together. In the end, there will be more room again for my spinal chord, less chafing, and consequently lots less pain. This is all done through incisions made through the front near the left or right side of the throat. Cameras and surgical instruments wiggle their way behind the throat and the surgeon goes to work. Both medical men, one an O.D. and the other an M.D., have predicted twenty-four to forty-eight hours in the hospital and then home with a neck brace. Thankfully, the brace can come off at night to sleep. I guess balancing teacups on my head is out of the question; at least for now.
On a lighter note.....
I finished my son's new computer. It is the latest upgrade I have done since I built my 'ammo-box' right in front of me in 2008. We were to have traveled out of Florida to see him in Tennessee earlier this year, but a sick grandma, and a sick cat nixed all that. I'll be able to travel after the operation. More to come
By this time last year we had already been to Tennessee three times. C'est la vie.
Are you following the exploits of the winner and runner-up of the American Idol show of last year. This year's group is so lame. They may have to give away mini-cd's of their music in Captain Crunch pachages!
Crystal Bowersox continues to appear at radio stations, opening for larger groups, and also on the Grand 'Ol Opry stage as a special guest to do one of her songs. She is appearing in Nashville at an out-door concert in June; a venue to which I had hoped to go. Never mind. She has a long road to hoe and she is doing it with grace and a lot of style. DeWise on the other hand appears at grocery store openings. It's a sure bet that someday soon he'll get the paint store he always wanted. Just remember to shoot low and graze the target from time to time.
Well......That's all from GRUMPY here in Hell-Lando. We couldn't get through the whole of May before the temperature ran back up to the high nineties. Do you want to retire here? Services of all kind are being cut back. Do you have a lot of money? Don't bring it to Florida. Governor Snot has a place for it in his pocket. After all, he forked out 89 million of his own money to "win" the election. He has to get it out of someone's hide.
'nuff said'
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