You Have Only Ever Fixed the Plumbing

Imagine your life’s career was the science of metal welding. As a young boy, you tinkered with metals. You found ways to bend steel. You watched the men you admire build amazing structures with a torch and a giant face shield, or watched beautiful sculptures emerge from the blinding arc flash of a weld. You studied it. You practiced it. You applied for your first job as an apprentice, and after years of hard work, you are now an expert.

But you were not always treated as well as you would have liked at your jobs. You sought to improve your quality of life. You increased your pay with every step. You really just wanted to be the best welder you could be.

Then one day, you find a company that needs a welder. Not just any welder, but a welder with experience and the skills to really have an impact on the company’s bottom line. You walk into this company with confidence. You feel like they wrote the job description with you in mind. You bring in examples of your work. You know the language. You know the trade. You tell them that hiring you can make the company better. And then, they hire you.

You have your own workstation. You get an employee badge. You meet thousands of new faces. You spend hours training on the company’s policies and procedures. You accept their terms, and now, you are ready to work.

After 6 weeks of waiting, the boss calls you into his office. He tells you there is a plumbing problem, and that the company doesn’t have a plumber who can fix it. You have been around a long time in the field; surely the boss thinks you can fix a plumbing issue. You haven’t started welding yet. You are confident in your well-rounded abilities. You accept the task because you’re a team player. And besides, you can fix plumbing. Although you are an excellent welder.

You fix the plumbing problem. You’re a hero. The management notices you. After this, the executives turn to you to fix more and more plumbing problems. Time is moving quickly. No welding jobs yet. But you remind yourself often that you’re a good welder and the company is in serious need of a plumber! The company should really hire a plumber!

Eight years pass. You are well established in the company now. Everyone knows your name. They look highly upon your work. They pay you well. But you haven’t lit a welding torch since joining the firm. Your welding tools gather dust. You forgot where you placed your welding hood. Every day you are called to fix the plumbing. You have never seen a company with so many plumbing problems. You criticize the people who praise you. You question your presence. You question their motives for keeping you. You know a real plumber would make less money than you make as a welder. And you’re paid more than either.

After ten years, the people have changed, and the products are redesigned. You’re still there fixing the same old plumbing. And suddenly, a welding task completed three years ago failed and needs to be corrected. The welding task was assigned to the electrician. The electrician knows how to solder; he must know something about welding. But now the weld has failed. The weld needs to be fixed. The world has come to you to fix. No one thought three years ago to ask you to take on a welding task, becuase you have only fixed the plumbing.

You have only ever fixed the plumbing.

A manager remembered meeting you the year before. You said you were the welder. Now he has a problem with a bad weld for you, and he asks if it’s in your wheelhouse. Of course it is. But you are tired. You are reluctant to admit it. Your hands are sore from pipe wrenches and water leaks. The cutting and bending of hard steel is nothing like the soft copper tubing you’ve become accustomed to. You regret joining this company. You regret losing touch with a skill you honed for years. You are mad at the people who led you away from welding to plumbing, but mostly you are mad at yourself.

You accept the welding task. You break in the stiff welding gloves. You dust off the welding hood. You spark the acetylene torch. You steady your hands. Muscle memory returns. The arc is clean. The bead is straight. You remember who you are. You tackle the electrician’s sloppy work. Yours is way better. Yours is much stronger. Guaranteed to withstand the wear of many years to come.

The weld is solid now. It always was your trade. And maybe the plumbing was never the real problem. Maybe the real leak was time — slowly draining away while you stood holding the wrong wrench. The company never meant to turn a welder into a plumber. They simply used the skill that showed up. The world will define you by what you do, not by what you once trained to become.

And as the sparks fade, you realize something that took ten years to learn — if you let the world decide what you are good at, it will gladly keep you there. But if you forget what you were meant to build, no one will remind you. Not unless you do it yourself.

Excerpt from Fireside Chat

“Oftentimes at midlife, beginning even in your thirties, a sinking feeling of resignation settles in. All the major pieces of life are seemingly in place. This is your job. This is your home. This is your spouse. These are your children. The course of your life feels set.

Yet you can never know what plot twists in your relationships, character, professional path, or level of success lie just around the corner.

Sometimes, it takes an external event to change our lives, but we must stay ready, as Ike did, to seize the opportunity if/when it arrives.

Other times, it’s up to us to author a new narrative ourselves.

Fortunately, a metaphorical typewriter lies ever before us, and the brilliance of biography is that the number of pages assigned to each period in life isn’t correlated to number of years but richness of content. No matter how slender the manuscript is so far, the meatiest, very best chapters may still be to come.”

Brett McKay 04/23/23

My Response to the responses about the video with Judy Mikovitz

It wasn’t long before this begin circulating…

“Everyone who is sharing the Plandemic video, please read up on Judy Mikovitz. She is an antivaxxer with a book to sell. She was not arrested for speaking out, she was arrested for stealing lab equipment. She had a previous study discredited and retracted. She was under investigation for data manipulation.

The video that keeps getting shared on social media is making widely discredited claims and the video has been classified as misinformation by both the American College of Emergency Physicians and the American Academy of Emergency Medicine.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE research what you share online.

Misinformation can lead to dangerous consequences. We had a serious and scary measles outbreak in New York from a similar campaign of lies.”

And this from the celerity, George Takei;

“Please stop sharing unfounded conspiracy theories from discredited, anti-vaxxer “plandemic” fear-mongers. You look foolish and misinformed, and you become a tool for those seeking to undermine civil society and the work of our valued experts.

Knock it off.”

Sometimes I would expect to read a rebuttal about certain claims such as the video suggests, but when I read only smears and insults, I think that is how “they” want to try and shut down the information, maybe even the truths.  These two rebuttals have nothing in them that come close to evidence against the corrupt pharmaceutical companies.  It becomes more clear when people start posting biased non-factual discredits.  That is not a debate, that is just calling someone names and a liar.

HOW in the hell can people listen to Fauci and claim he’s the expert, the voice of reason, the person we should trust… and not the orange guy??  If science is the real key, the guide by which all of us should PAY ATTENTION TO… then present the f*cking science!!  Is the science so unknown in this age, the 21^st century that we really don’t know what to do?  Or what to expect?  The non-biased average Joe should see through the inconsistencies, the bending of facts and the outright flip-flopping bullshit.  That is what make’s the Makovitz video even more credible.  I don’t hear anyone saying anything in the video to dispute those things.

And to have a major social media website, YouTube censor the video, and shut it down because they believe it to be mere misinformation.  It is a long video with a lot of information.  Which part or what in the video is indisputable misinformation?  Everything is debatable.  What is fact and what is not?  To believe that all people of power and prominence are beyond reproach is utterly naive.  They, including the politicians who need to line their greedy pockets should answer to those whose lives they so dramatically and drastically effect.

It is absolutely crazy to hear these politicians inflate their chests on TV and say directly to our faces, in sign language and dramatics… literally canceling the rights of Americans in the name of “saving lives.”  Even if it is deemed to be temporary, where is the pause button on the Bill of Rights and Constitution that allows our government to do this?  And what is almost as crazy is that there are the people that wholeheartedly agree with this authoritarian behavior… and from my view it is consistently the people associated with the Democratic left.  Which to me makes no sense.  EVERY AMERICAN should start by questioning the acts of our political hires as to whether or not these “verbal laws” go against our Constitution and our rights.  (WHERE IS THE ACLU??  Why are they silent??)  Does it go against your rights?  Your right to free speech, or to assemble, or go to the church of your choice?  Your right to use and visit public properties?  And it also makes no sense to me that the MSM (the mainstream media) supports this, as well, because they (including the right side of the fence) will be the first to be censored and simply shut down… all of them.  There will not be a need for ABC, MSNBC, CNN, CBS, NBC or even FOX.  They will have one media source, and that will control THE message they want us to hear from now and going forward.  The journalists of today will lose their very livelihoods and their freedoms to say anything, and they will be silenced.

I Can See Clearer Now

Not really.  I’m not seeing any better or worse than I have been, thank you.  But this past experience I had with the Optometrist opened my eyes some… lol.  Get it?

My regular medical doctor, a younger male general practitioner that I have been seeing for the past decade or so, told me at my last annual physical to go see my optometrist.  During his usual interrogation of my health history and habits, he asked me when was the last time I had my eyes checked.

Hesitating for the moment to search my mind for an approximate time frame, I looked up and said, “2015? Three years, I think.”  Which sounded about right.  I was working for a company in Buffalo Grove which was not too far from my eye doctor’s office.  I remember scooting out during a lunch hour or two to get my eyes checked out and buy a new pair of frames.  Yes, yes… it was during that time I worked in Buffalo Grove between 2013 and 2015.  I remember looking specifically for a deli in the area after my appointment to have a handmade sandwich lunch before going back to the office.  I think I found the deli but they didn’t make sandwiches, if I recall correctly.  I struck out on that one.  It always comes back to food.

My doctor’s comeback to me, “Make an appointment.”

There was nothing wrong with my eyes or sight.  I wasn’t talking up any issues I might have been having with my eyes.  I believe he was just doing what doctors do.  Checking things out.  I’m not a youngster anymore and problems with the eyes do appear more frequently when one gets older.  So, I took it as a precautionary thing; like, stop eating carbs, use condoms, lose weight, and exercise more.

Putting his semi-strong suggestion on the back burner, it was mid-spring 2019 (eight months later) when one of my dogs (Sassy) decided to affectionately slap her tongue across my face.  My dogs either think I taste like a salty treat, or they know facial licks (kisses) make me smile and laugh and make me pet them even more.  Their aim or tongue placement however, has never been very good when it comes to kisses.  Sampson will “kiss” me like I was an ice cream cone on a hot day.  He will cover as many square inches of my face as he can before I have to come up for air and scoop away the layers of dog saliva.  Sassy, with her tongue, she will only go for the light-touch lick or two; never really overdoing it like Sampson.  But she has a tendency to go high, generally around my nose and eyes and forehead.  And on this one particular time in May, as I bent down to get a loving kiss from Sassy, her tongue unintentionally whisked across my glasses leaving a wet smear across the lenses.  Ugh!  A pet peeve of mine.  (Pun intended.)  I took my glasses off my face with one hand and with my free hand retrieved the lens cleaning cloth from my pocket.  As I began the process of removing the smears, I finger-gripped the eyeglasses by the bridge and *SNAP.*  And suddenly I now own a pair of monocles.

After a few swear words, and coming to the realization there was nothing I could have done to prevent it or now even at this point reverse it or fix it, I made the decision to make that appointment with my optometrist, as my GP wanted, and get my eyes checked and buy new frames, too.  I had an old backup pair of glasses that were definitely not up-to-snuff with my ruined pair, but they would hold me over for the time being.  I gathered up the digits to phone the office to make that appointment pronto, with that ‘Just Do It” attitude.  I remember it was early on a Saturday, so I was ready to drive up there on a minute’s notice if they had an opening for me that day.  I made the call and when I went to request an appointment; I was placed in a bit of a shock because I was told I would have to wait three weeks in order to get in.  Jeepers!  I didn’t put up a fuss or demand anything.  But three weeks?!  Then, and I’m not sure what prompted me to do this, I searched on-line for frames.  I looked at my broken pair and it had the brand and model number, which I entered in the search box and voilà, right before my eyes were my exact frames.  Something new was coming into focus.

This huge revelation made me think… can I buy the exact frames that I’ve had on-line (?), receive them on my doorstep without leaving home (?), put my old lenses in the new frames without fancy fitters (?), and all will be right with the world???  YES, yes I can.  I can do all this without leaving my house, dealing with eye doctors, and those people that sell you frames.  And so, I did.  I used my credit card and everything to place the order.  The expectation of delivery took about a week longer than promised, but my new frames arrived, and perfectly accepted my lenses without complaint and I was back to seeing well again.  With the backup pair retired back into its case, I pondered whether or not to see the eye doctor after all.  I decided I would.  My mind was full of ideas on how do I get more new frames again, and these now on my head would become the new backups.

The office visit was scheduled for a weekday.  On that day, I totally botched the time I should have left my office in order to arrive comfortably at the eye doctor.  I was a miserable 15… maybe 25 minutes late for my appointment.  I walked in with my tail between my legs and announced my arrival to the lady at the reception desk.  I offered to accept the loss and reschedule if needed, but after she hesitated, and checked with someone in the back room, I was allowed to stay and was told to have a seat.  I was handed “The Clipboard” and was asked to update my file information.  I suck at this.  Names, dates, insurances, employers, occupations, surgeries, family members, drugs, supplements, past aches and pains… I can’t remember this stuff!  Thus, the idea for a phone app that stores all this data for you and is readily available to download by your doctor… or at the least provide you with a cheat sheet to help fill out these forms. (And here’s one of those apps => https://www.mymedicalapp.com)  I was the only person in the office waiting, and there might have been someone picking out frames; basically, the place was empty.  A short woman appeared from around a corner near the back and loudly asked my name, “STEVE?”  Like, was there more than one Steve possibly in the waiting area?  I was the only one waiting.  With such a void of customers, I wondered why I waited three weeks for an appointment, and why would 15 minutes late warrant an approval from someone in the back room?  It seemed to me they should be happy to have a customer today.  Anyway… eye exams seem rather predictable.  There’s this little room packed with a myriad of fancy, shmancy equipment.  Probably bought by the business owner in hopes to make some money from it over time.  Place your forehead against the tissues, now blink, can you see the tree, can you see the dots, what number can you see in the “test your color blindness” photomontage?  Now let me blow air in your eye and see how far back you jerk your head.  AND then there’s always that one fancy device that does something that is so essential to the health of your eyes that it is not even covered by normal eye insurance; but, it is always highly recommended.  (Much like the fluoride application at the dentist.  They always offer it, and tell you how important it is, but it is not covered by insurance; “Shall we go ahead and apply this today?”)  Once all this data, photos, and records are gathered and the chin guards are cleaned with alcohol, I was herded into another dimly lit closet to “The Chair.”

“Have a seat and the doctor will be right with you.”

I enjoy my alone time in the chair.  I like to look at the eye anatomy drawings and posters, fiddle with the gadgets and especially the phoropter.  Ah, the phoropter… has there ever been 

such an invention so impressive as this infinite collection of gears and lenses and flips and levers?  Even the unique sounds it makes when you spin the dials gives me chills.  But, the phoropter and I do not have the best relationship going back some thirty years when we had our first falling out.

I have been visually challenged since I was 8 or 9 years old.  I will never forget that day I walked out of the Golf Mill Sears’ store where my parents took me for my very first eye exam and pair of glasses.  I walked out into the parking lot wearing my brand new fancy, dark tortoise, plastic frames… and the letters on the huge Sears sign in the distance along Greenwood Road was as clear and as sharp as a fisherman’s fillet knife.  Wow!  By the time I reached high school, I advanced to hard contact lenses which brought on a new set of challenges in eye care.  Later, came the soft contact lenses and then the extended wear contact lenses, but all the while, there was the old standby; eye glasses.  Ever changing with the fashions with every new pair.  And with every visit resulting in a stronger prescription.  It was in the early 90s when I came to dislike the phoropter.  I never had a regular optometrist before then.  I don’t know why.  You can always go to a private doctor’s office, but during this time the retail, all-in-one, vision enterprise was becoming big business.  You could walk into a store, get your exam, pick your frames from thousands of styles and have your new lenses made in their labs and fitted in the frames all within an hour (or so).  And I have been there.  I did Pearle Vision, I did Lenscrafters, and I probably have tried others.  But it was at this time in the early 90s when things got serious.

My life events during this time brought me to a point where I was driving long distances daily for my job and in many cases, I had my young son alongside me in the car.  It was not a good time in my life.  It was rather stressful, and despite my troubles, I still had to keep my eyesight sharp.  So, I ended up with this optometrist near my work.  I had to get new a new prescription.  The big details of this memory were that I recall the appointment was at the end of the day; perhaps the last appointment for the day.  The days were shorter so it must have been during the fall season.  I had my son with me.  And I needed to drive 70 plus miles to get home.  I vaguely recall the appointment itself, but I do remember leaving the office and driving a mile or two before turning back in total panic.  My vision was horrible with this new prescription.  I was totally afraid I was putting myself and my son in complete danger.  It was rainy and dark, and the lights in my sight were big, blurry balls.  I turned around and headed back to the doc’s office, but I don’t recall the immediate outcome.  But I got my old glasses back and relied on those to make my way back home.  I also remember there was a lot of arguing and disagreement with the eye doctor over what the phoropter told him was my new prescription and what my eyes were telling me.

Shortly after all this, I landed with another optometrist.  He was an older gentleman more patient and willing to listen to my sight issues.  While I sat in the dimly lit closet, with the phoropter balancing inches from my face; he bent down and pulled an old wooden case out from under the desk.  If he had blown dust off it, I would have been even more impressed, but I don’t think he did.  He opened the wooden case, and inside it looked like the tool case of a steam punk jeweler from the 1800s.  Organized with everything in perfect place.  This guy was going to pull some old-fashioned optometry right here.  The doc removed the gadgets and gears and lenses one-by-one.  He built a mini-phoropter right on a pair of frames.  He put them on my head, adjust the eye holes… and we went outside… Yes, you read correctly.  He and I went to the outdoors and he had me look at store signs in the distance.  After changing only a couple of the lenses until my vision was sharp; he recorded the prescription.  It worked.  That was all the exam I needed.  When I received my new pair of corrective lenses, I had no issues, and I could see clearly once again.

As a couple more years passed, I think I saw Dr. Old Timey once or twice more.  With each visit, I would remind him of how we did the exam last time, and we repeated the steps for another successful eye check-up.  The problem with seeing an old doctor is that tend to want to retire and enjoy their lives.  Yeah, well, what about me?  Ugh! I think I saw his associate or business partner until that clinic finally closed.  After some more years, I learned my new girlfriend took herself and her daughter to a place in Lincolnshire they were very comfortable with, and as our relationship became more immersed… then so began I with another new optometrist.  Again, with every visit to the dimly lit closet, I would try desperately to explain how to satisfy me with the old fashioned face-phoropter.  Those desperate attempts became more and more futile and at some point in my miserable search for clear, sharp vision, I gave up the ghost of Dr. Old Timey.

The eye-timeline brings me back to Buffalo Grove and the fine eye care specialists that work there.  To be fair, up until the visit that prompted me to pen this blog post, I have had good success with these doctors.  In fact, here’s one good thing… I was turned on to a flexible style frame that I really like made by Nike with Flexon technology.  The metal keeps its shape even when one of lovable dogs drives his big, wet snout into my face plastering an image of my retina on the lens.  I can even wear my motorcycle helmet and maneuver my spectacles onto my face without worry they will be bent in half by the inner foam sides.  Also, one doctor at this clinic (may have been her) suggested my cholesterol levels were high because of a build up seen in the veins in my eyes.  Another doc offered up eye vitamins that I never bought.  Their equipment is up-to-date and provides more and more accurate information about my aging oculi.

So now, after a short time in the chair, which always makes me wonder what on earth does this doctor do back there that would make me have to wait;  Is she checking in on Facebook?  Her Post:  “Oh boy, another old, fat guy in the chair… gotta go listen to the “dad jokes”!”

“HEY DOC, I THINK I HAVE GARY LARSON DISEASE!  I’M FARSIGHTED!”
57 Likes, 8 Comments

The friendly doctor strolls in shutting the closet door behind her.  She’s a young woman of Indian descent (not Native American, but Western Indian), and she is very pregnant.  Needless to say, we share the usual pleasantries and proceed with the examination.

“Tell me the lowest line you can read,” she said.
“Hmm, it looks like E, V, O, T, Z, and 2?,” I guessed.  I guessed right.  And I guessed right, over and over, and over again.  You see… EVOTZ2 is really easy to remember, as well.

After we ran through the tests… 1? or 2?, 3? or 4?, etc., she told me that my nearsightedness (inability to see far) has actually improved.  That’s not really how she put it but in terms I can understand, but by reducing the power of my prescription, to me, means my vision must have gotten better.  I shrugged and thought, “Hmm, how about that?”  We finished the exam and the doc led me to the lady that lines up the new frame purchase.  This was a pointless waste of time with me.  I’m thinking, I’ll pony up for new lenses in my existing frames and buy a second pair for backup.  First of all, I didn’t do the math very well, because my eye insurance at my new company was no better than the TP in the restroom at this clinic.  My other company had decent eye coverage, and that policy covered a certain amount for lenses and frames.  I found my old invoice from my last visit when I bought the Nike brand plus a backup pair and that came to $679.  Today’s purchase could have gone well into four figure$$.  Also, it is futile for me to find a style that looks good on me.  I was totally unprepared for that part of the process, as well.  Looking in a fuzzy mirror trying to measure up my looks with new frames.  And at the very start this whole encounter was totally uncomfortable.  She was an older European woman who spoke broken English with a HEAVY Polish or Russian accent.  I told her a wanted the same frames as I was currently wearing and although I thought I saw those exact frames directly behind her on display, she went and grabbed something totally different.  I think she received a commission on her sales… she had to, otherwise why was she pushing so much…

“You buy today,” she tried to sell me, “I work out deal 20% off.  It is best I can do.  You want keep those frames, I need to send to lab,” she continued, “It will take two weeks.”  Oh brother, now I’m bothered by all this.  I’m not giving up my glasses for two weeks.  I didn’t think this through.  Wait, a minute I just bought frames last month on a website for less than $150…  I need to do better than this.  I had to get out of there… and I did.

Then, I wasn’t a quarter-mile away from the eye clinic heading back toward my workplace when I realized she said my vision is better?  Really?  I fell into the same old phoropter trap.  Here we go again… I’ll get new lenses.  I’ll complain I “can’t see.”  The doc and I argue, she adjusts my prescription, the new lenses are ordered… hassle, hassle, hassle.  No one is happy.  Time and money exhausted.  The only good thing to come out of all this would be the ability to see clearer.  But I didn’t want the hassle, so I decided to attempt something completely different… I simply made another appointment to see the doctor BUT this time I won’t just read off those letters because I WILL NOT GUESS.  EVOTZ2 will have to be crystal clear before I step one foot out of that chair next time.

This is where things got interesting.  After some days had passed, I was in the area of my eye clinic and stopped in to make the second appointment with the receptionist in-person.  The biggest hurdle was explaining that I was just here recently and I want another appointment with the doctor only.  I didn’t want the fancy color charts and photos of my retinas again.  Just some chair time with the doc.  I think I threw the receptionist for a loop.  No one does this apparently.  Anyway, I got the appointment this time on a Saturday morning three weeks out.

Fast forward three weeks, and here I am at the eye clinic again for my appointment with the doc.  I have psyched myself to really look at the letters on the wall and not give her the inkling that I could see them clearly… until I do see them sharp and clear.  I rummaged through the magazines and pamphlets stacked on the table in the fauz waiting room as I waited for my call… again, no other patients in sight.  And like clock work, an assistant lady popped out from around the corner of the exam rooms and called my first name… with a question mark, of course.  I dropped the literature and jumped up to her call and prod full steam ahead.  As soon as I came within a few feet of the assistant and began to detail my reason for being here.  I basically said to her I have just been through the fun eye games we always do just a short couple weeks ago and there is no need to play this again.  (I also think for some reason this should lower my bill for today’s visit.)  The assistant woman is totally confused; this doesn’t normally happen in her world.  And in this office, it began to be clear….

She takes me to the dark exam closet and puts me in the chair for the doctor.  In short time, still enough time for me to play with the equipment dangled near my face, the doctor arrives and begins the stern questioning about what am I doing here.  I was being as tactful and honest as I could be… but, she may have taken offense to the comment I made about not trusting the prescription change.  I was trying to be tactful, but I think I forgot with whom I was speaking as I may have just insulted her work.  It was at that point she was agitated and short with me.  (Yes, I blew tact out the window.)  I was told I had to go back to the eye gaming room and go through the series of eye tests before we would check the letters on the wall.  She said that is procedure and if I want to continue I must start back in the room.  Okay!  So, I did.  I went though the routine, and was led back to the exam room.

The doctor strolls in with a whole new attitude; almost as if this was a do-over for her.  We chatted again about the last test and she lined up the equipment for another vision go-round.  But I said, it wasn’t her, it was me guessing at the letters and her thinking it meant all was clear and sharp… and her response, “I’ve been doing this a long time,” she said, “and we learn how to detect lies.  I go through this all the time with kids.”  So, although that made perfect sense that somehow, because how else can she ever trust the judgment of the youth.  But, still it was like totally illogical… absolutely no way could she know what what I see.  She said there was no change to the prescription, of course.  Of course.  I was released from the chair, and sent to the front desk.  I kindly asked for the prescription on paper, because I was NOT going to buy new glasses from this place.  Hrumpf.

When, I got the front desk to pay my bill for the visit… the doctor said to the lady from the back of the office, “Print a copy of Steve’s prescription for him, and it’ll be ‘no charge’ for today.”  I sat in my car for moment before heading home, and I wondered if the doctor did that because not only did she know what my eyes were seeing, but that my mind was thinking about this is the last time I would be at this office.  Maybe she saw that as clearly as I did…

 

My Thoughts on the COVID-19 Virus

The Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most disruptive events to hit the planet in at least during my lifetime (since the 1960s).  There have been several virus scares, it seems every couple of years, but this one has probably made the biggest impact on all of the world.  There are wars on foreign soil, and natural disasters just too catastrophic to even imagine; but, little has ventured onto land of milk and honey and has had such a widespread impact as this tiny submicroscopic infectious object.

Many of the viruses that emerged in past two decades have been deadly assaults to humanity and the fact that we were all susceptible to the disease can be terrifying.  But in the past, these diseases are paraded out by the media and not too long after lose their marketing steam and are no longer an issue.  I remember the Avian Flu or Bird Flu outbreak of late 1990s.  It was frightening that a bird could carry this virus and transmit to humans.  I’m not sure how long we paid attention to the spread and the people it infected, but it was mostly effecting those overseas in Asia.  The Zika virus which originated in South America in 2015 was another scary virus heading our way transmitted via the hated mosquito… that and the killer bees.  That virus seemed to effect pregnant moms and the babies. Awful. Somehow it made it to the southern American states, and it soon faded into the archives.  The Ebola virus of 2018 (which apparently is still active) meant certain death to anyone that caught it.  Some American doctor in Africa was rushed to the US and recovered.  I remember the media coverage on this terrible disease.  However, it too faded into the archives.  Despite its high risk of death, the spread has been low, and not a major threat to the world.

So when I first heard of this outbreak, it was still very far away in China.  Separated by the Pacific Ocean and half the two countries, I felt about this disease as I’ve been taught to feel about the other diseases.  Not to worry so much.  It will raise its mighty head, bellow a vicious roar and consume many unfortunate human lives in its path, but then weaken and like its predecessors, fade into the archives.  Perhaps my behaviour can be described as delusional.  The Boy Who Cried Wolf is one of Aesop’s fables where the false alarm gets the proper attention after several repeated calls until the real alarm occurs and gets no attention and the damage becomes real.  All because no one believes in the alarm anymore.  Here, I have heard the media cries that the disease will effect us all only to never hear of it again.  How can I not think this will blow over like a spring thunderstorm?

What happened?  Apparently the fast spreading virus hit the epicenter of the disease, Wuhan, China pretty hard and information coming from the Chinese got the attention of the US media.  This all started around November 2019.  The first confirmed case in the US was in Washington state on January 20, 2020, and in Illinois it happened on January 24, 2020 and was fairly close to my home (6.5 miles) considering how far away Wuhan is from me (7,225.09 miles).  The next country to experience the virus significantly was Italy only a week later because some travelers came back from China, and the virus began to take hold there.

So, now the fear mongering begins.  Facebook is lit with facts, falsehoods, myths, and all kinds of misinformation.  The political fighting also takes root.  Let me take a look at the origins of the virus based on the information I’ve heard;  first was the “wet markets” in Wuhan.  A wet market is an open-air food marketplace where goods are sold.  The meat for sale is either live, dead, or slaughtered on the spot for the customers.  The sanitary conditions are terrible, and there are no government regulations to inspect and monitor these wet markets.  A video (which I believe to be credible) appeared on Facebook to show an Asian wet market.  No proof of where, or when, but it was Asian and there were live cats and dogs being killed for consumption.  Other animals being offered were large snakes, pigs, and bats.  It is the bat, however that has gained popularity in being the carrier of the virus and transmitting it to the humans.

Another theory is a conspiracy theory.  This is the right-wing Republican explanation for this disease.  After 3-plus years of Donald Trump as President of the United States, the Democratic party vowed to remove him from office and have failed on at least two very significant events.  Many months were dedicated on investigating Trump for collusion with the Russian government to interfere with the 2016 presidential election.  A final report by Robert Mueller, Special Counsel for The USDOJ deflated the Democrats rally cry on that whole matter.  (I thought I was paying attention and Trump was in big trouble.  I was wrong.)  The next attempt was impeachment proceedings against Trump.  This highly publicized event was all about a phone call Trump had with the Ukraine leader.  The Democrats interpreted this call as an impeachable offense.  But I can’t even tell you which offense it was; quid pro quo, bribery, threats, treason?  In the end, the Congressional House of Representatives voted to impeach President Trump on “abuse of power” and obstruction of Congress.”  The circus behind this was politically motivated and you would have to be as blind as the bat with a virus not to see it.  The Senate acquitted the President quickly.  So, two big swings and misses at the president, and some believe that in an election year with the stock markets and unemployment both operating at record levels Trump would be hard to beat in November 2020.  On the foreign side, Trump pissed off the Chinese with higher tariffs and trying to get jobs back into the US.  That being said, the Democrats worked with President Xi in China, Putin in Russia, and King Salman of Saudi Arabia to destroy Trump’s economy and make him lose at the ballot box to Joe Biden.  How to do this was to create a virus that would halt the economy and bring the US to its knees – germ warfare.  Russia would stage an oil war with the Saudis flooding the market and significantly driving down oil prices.  And it all could work if people think the recession caused by this virus can be saved by a Democratic president.  At the very least, the virus and oil prices have killed the US stock market, unemployment has sky-rocketed and a bad recession could result.  Everyone, including myself hope this is temporary and we get back on track.

The last conspiracy theory I heard about was strictly global dominance by the Chinese government.  Somewhere on Twitter, I heard this guy talk about how the disease has strange characteristics.  First of all it effects, the adults more than children, and it has its  worse effect on the elderly.  Second, the disease tends to spread rapidly from early stages rather than latter stages of other flu like diseases.  With that in mind, the disease tends to attack those that have less to contribute to a society; thus, if a government was concerned about population control and needed to “thin the herd” so to speak, who would it they seek out but non-contributors, without being seen as inhumane against innocent children.  They might be considered a burden on society, a burden on the healthcare system and other support systems.  Now, to add to all this The Wuhan Institute of Virology is a research institute on virology administered by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Located in Jiangxia District, Wuhan, Hubei, it opened mainland China’s first biosafety level 4 (BSL–4) laboratory in 2015.  And the Wuhan Virus epicenter, the wet markets where it was determined to have started is about 20 miles from the WIV.  In a country that is about 3400 miles by 3250 miles, what are the odds the virus got its legs in Wuhan, just 20 miles from the WIV.  This theory hasn’t been swimming in waters too deep to be noticed.  Major media outlets have outwardly speculated of this possibility that the WIV leaked the virus.  Plus, it is unfortunate that the doctors that were first to treat those afflicted with the disease have also perished.  Doctors that had vital information on the virus and its origins.  Why would the Chinese government allow this?  The conspiracy thought is that this is how to obtain global dominance.  The virus silenced and immobilized the inhabitants of the country.  The people were becoming more and more rebellious with major riots happening in Hong Kong.  With the US economy tanking fast, some say the Chinese are secretly buying up critical businesses that will give them leverage against trade wars and tariffs.  Also, they can take advantage of global oil prices and buy up enough reserves to put a strangle hold on the rest of the world.  President Xi might be clever enough to see the old way of wars would be nothing but a blood bath against the US with casualties in the millions on both sides; but found this method to gain global dominance and buy any country they want.

Politically, I am a republican and support Donald Trump.  He’s not a typical politician as we all know.  Unfortunately, he most likely is not listening to any of his advisers on how to present himself and the some of the things that come out of his mouth.  With his TV showmanship and him beating Hillary in 2016, those that despised him at the beginning, definitely despise him even more (if that’s even possible).  I have some contacts on my social media; Facebook and Twitter feeds that are among those that despise him.  And of those that I read, it really makes me wonder about what the hell goes on in their heads sometimes.  I’m certainly biased because I do support him.  So, I might not fully understand them, but many of these Never-Trumpers literally blame the President for the virus in America.  How is it his fault?  Immediately after he speaks, his haters are criticizing and bad-mouthing him.  Sometimes they just hate looking at him, but yet they watch and find every flaw even if it isn’t there.  They demand he be a leader, yet they wouldn’t follow him if he said exactly what they told him to say.  Trump could hold a virus vaccine in his hands, and his distracters would rather die than take the shot.  (Although some of these people are just hypocritical enough to take the shot, but never admit he was right in giving it to them.)  So, I’m a little disgusted about all this.  The man is trying and no one lets up.  During the World Wars, the people of this nation (in majority) rallied behind the President to send millions of young men to fight the Nazis and Japanese.  We get wind of a virus coming from overseas and the President tries to close our borders, and he’s called a racist.  He tries to provide a stimulus package for the people suffering from this virus and he’s fighting with Democrats about their pork-belly needs.  (Republicans were no better in this.)  But lets be real here, Trump is human and has his faults, and he gets his advise from every which way, and he’s not trail-blazing some new philosophy.  He says stay indoors, and people say he’s too late, or he’s too early.  He listens and complies to the scientists.  And they say, “Listen to the scientists.”  The other part is the media trying to bait the President into their attitudes of eternal “wokeness.”  Doing their best to trap him into saying things that they can misconstrue and twist into not politically correct terms.

I want to share my thoughts on the new heroes of this era; our hospital staffs standing on the front line of this virus.  Shit, who would want to have to face disease ridden people that could give transmit a fatal virus?  Doctors and nurses.  To those people, I salute you!  I never quite understood the draw to either profession (except for the prestige and money). But lately, there has been a shortage of supplies for hospitals in the way of PPE (personnel protective equipment); masks, gloves, gowns, etc.  There’s a rally cry to donate these items and people all over the place are stepping up with gloves, masks, etc.  Personally, I’m really torn here.  People don’t realize healthcare in America is not free by any stretch of the imagination.  Think of it this way… if you get sick with the Coronavirus and go to the hospital, you will get a hefty bill for your stay and on that bill you will be overly charged for those gloves, masks, and other items you so generously donated to the hospital.  People argue if the hospitals don’t have them we all die.  A truth is, you bought those items, the hospitals are not non-profit, they have money for supplies, they should buy them from you and not take it for free.  You will buy them back at a loss when you’re sick.  Hospitals are businesses run by greedy businessmen; they will claim they can’t buy them from strangers (non-compliant suppliers) due to government regulations, but they will gladly TAKE your donations with much faux humility.

The curse of a social network on the internet is that you get to read what every crack-pot wants to think or share.  There are people I genuinely like but what they post can make my eyes roll way back.  Yes, it is completely voluntary and up to me to look at it, but I can’t help myself.   It is like a totally undocumented bad experiment in social behaviours; the results are in… people are really hmmmm….  not me.  Or they don’t see the world like I do… or is it I see there flaws and decide not to be like that?  But the small group of people I see on Facebook are just… not me.  Some act like they need to post the PSAs and the data… some need to constantly criticize the politicians, some bleeding hearts like to praise the blue skies and all things positive, and some like to think WE ARE ALL overreacting to nothing.  Hmmm, that list of death numbers from ordinary flu, murders, abortions, and suicides you posted is suppose to do what?   Oh yea, make me think this Coronavirus doesn’t exist or is minimal and go about my miserable life.  I believe people posts things to reflect their thoughts and see what reactions they get.  That’s why the majority of my crap is humor. The reaction is laughter, please and thank you.

Pet Insurance; What I Learned Today

Americans are obsessed with insurance.  We can have an insurance policy written on most anything our pocket books are willing to support.  (That’s not to say, most insurance companies will be happy to take your money if the rewards outweigh the risks.)  Most young adults are introduced into the world of insurance when they buy their first automobile.  With their first job, they learn about personal healthcare insurances; which primarily cover your body’s medical and pharmaceutical needs, teeth, and eyes.  Upon marriage, the family looks to buy a house and cover that major expense with a policy.  Of course, there are add-ons to consider such as flood insurance.  And rounding out the insurance portfolio; a common purchase for the new family would be a life insurance policy in case the unspeakable happens.  But it doesn’t stop there… you can purchase a policy for any thing that moves you; boats, motorcycles, ATVs, trailers, RVs, and even bicycles.  You can get separate liability coverage for all those things that might be missed by other plans like an umbrella policy.  Perhaps that new home has too many bumps in the night or it gives you the willies… you can pony up for a Paranormal Insurance policy.  And for the even scarier nightmares, kidnap and ransom insurance policies are on the rise.  A more common purchase for a frequent traveler might be a one-time per trip cancellation or lost luggage insurance policy.  For the not-to-sure-at-heart, there is the “Cold Feet” insurance for that someone who might be left standing at the alter.  And for the ultra-serious fantasy football players, you can now take out fantasy athlete insurance. Specialty insurers offer coverage on top players in football, baseball, basketball and ice hockey.   If one of your players is out for a certain number of games due to injury, you can get your full league entry fee back.  And for the real-life celebrities whether in sports or entertainment, for years, there has been insurance to cover their body parts (legs, arms, eyes, hair, etc.) that they’ve relied on to maintain their celebrity status and income.

That brings me to one of the fastest growing insurance industries; the pet policy.

North America’s pet health insurance sector reached another major milestone, with total premium volume in North America reaching $1.42 billion USD by the end of 2018, according to the North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA).  Industry data also showed that 2.43 million pets were insured in North America over the same period. In 2018, the U.S. saw an increase of 18% to 2.16 million pets.

I never considered buying an insurance policy for any of my pets until 2016…  In March of 2006, after an Internet search for the nearest Black Labrador/Dalmatian mix puppy I could find, I was driving home from Wisconsin with three-month old Scooby.  Me and my newly forming family officially had a new puppy.  He was mostly white with large black markings.  He reminded me of a typical Holstein cow.  With his big puppy energy, he loved to chase and be chased with his signature “juke” move thrown in to make you laugh hysterically trying to keep up.  In August of that same year, my sister called me to let me know her female Labrador had a litter of yellow and black Labradors, and if I wanted I could have one from the litter to choose.

Well, to be honest, I always had my heart set on a majestic and loyal chocolate Labrador as my next dog.  Not that I no longer wanted a Scooby; he was my first choice going back to the 90s when a co-worker was giving away Black Labrador/Dalmatian mixed puppies.  I was single and living in an townhouse then, and having a pet was not something I could take on at that point in my life.  I had to pass; but I never forgot and when it was time, I found Scooby.  (BTW, he may have been a mix with other unknown breeds as was the reason for his short beagle-stature and terrier-type paws, but I loved him just the same.)

From her emailed photos, I chose a yellow lab that stood out as a prince and confident leader among the pack.  We named him, Sampson after the Biblical character.  And that October, we (including Scooby) drove to Tennessee to pick up Sampson.  The two dogs co-mingled well, and we loved having them in our home.

It was in the summer of 2008, my sister informed me of another litter (same dam) but this time there was ONE chocolate Labrador among all the pups.  I did not hesitate to accept this fur-baby into my house.  In September, we loaded up a van with one of our cages and drove to Tennessee to pickup our Labrador and five others for my nearby cousins that had asked me to return by request.  Ten minutes prior to departure from my sister’s home for the trek back, a lone black Labrador, not slated for the trip with us was making her presence known.  My ex-wife couldn’t resist and convinced me that one more was not going to kill us.  I agreed and that is how we came home with Smudge and his sister, Sassy.

Fast forward eight years; I’ve fed my babies their dry dog food religiously every morning, they got their treats after every ‘outside’, I’ve played ball with them a thousand times, I bought the yearly pass to the county dog park where they run and run and swim and play with other dogs.  A pretty normal dog’s life.  And the life was good, until that day in June of 2016.  Sampson became lethargic and his hind legs wavered unsteadily like he was a drunken sailor.  I made an emergency (unscheduled) visit to the vet and the first thing he did was check Sampson’s temperature.  He had a high fever and the vet recommended I go immediately to the pet emergency.

I went directly from the vet to the clinic.  Sampson was admitted to the doggie hospital and there he stayed for three nights.  Tests upon tests, fluids and treatments, and rest for Sampson; but no relief for me.  I was a wreck.  I brought him home on a Sunday along with a cocktail of medications for the next two months but there was no determined cause for his illness.  None.  But my VISA credit card suffered major damage to the tune of close to $6,000.  This is when I began to think about pet insurances.  I wish I had acted on that sooner.

In the fall of 2017, Sassy fell ill.  She was a heavy girl for some time now, and I asked the vet (who I later left) to check her thyroid.  He did and she had hypothyroidism. She was started on daily meds like Scooby, and she was losing weight.  Too much weight… a trip back to the vet for recheck revealed she dropped 40 pounds in 4 weeks.  Now, we have something else to worry about.  The blood tests showed terrible liver numbers.  She had Wilson’s Disease; the inability to expel copper from her liver.  At the end of December, she had an operation to remove her gall bladder and biopsy her liver.  I don’t even have an estimate in my mind as to how much this has cost.  Since her diagnosis, the medications and special food and check ups and tests have continued to add up.

But there was more terrible news, Scooby was diagnosed with internal bleeding tumors in his liver nine days before Christmas, 2017.  An emergency ultra-sound confirmed the devastating discovery.  He died at home on his special chair with me stroking his fur just after 10 o’clock in the evening of January 1, 2018.  Two days later, keeping his corpse chilled in the garage, a Lap of Love agent came to the house to save me a lock of his fur and make a paw print before taking his body to the crematorium.

Eight days after Scooby’s death, I finally signed up the other three dogs for pet insurance.

And it was a good decision.  In January of 2019, my chocolate Labrador Smudge was diagnosed with advanced renal failure and a cancerous mass had captured his thyroid.  He was not far from his end.  According to the doctors, his kidneys were so far gone they would not attempt any procedures on his cancer, and it was now my choice on Smudge’s remaining quality of life.  I believe he had many fun filled and glorious days.  I kept him hydrated with daily subcutaneous (SubQ) fluids and medications of varying types; such as phosphate-binding powders on his food, pills, and human hormone injections for red blood cell counts.  Smudge crossed over the Rainbow Bridge 120 days later with the assistance of a Lap of Love agent; the same vet that came for Scooby the year before.  Recently, I just completed the submission of medical claims for Smudge, and it made me reflect on pet insurance.

With the exception of the wealthy, if you are going to own a cat or dog, you should ask yourself;  what is that animal’s life worth to you?  If something should happen to your pet, what will you decide to do?  For me, I had four dogs during an eight year period of time that I was able to afford whatever ailment they had; including Sassy’s broken leg when she was only four months old.  However, I can’t help but think there will come a time when your pet is going to need some extra care, and that care is going to come as a financial shock.  If you’re unprepared for that first shock, the choice may be to euthanize your pet.  And that would be a shame, especially if the pet had a treatable disorder.  I have heard recently from other dog owners that their young dogs ingested something that caused an internal blockage.  Pre-testing, surgeries, and after-care can be expensive; but, the dogs can live normal happy lives after a full recovery.

Similarly, your pet may be stricken with a more serious condition.  Based on recent studies, cancer is the leading cause of death in dogs over 10 years, with 50% of older dogs developing the disease and approximately one in four dogs eventually dying from it.  Perhaps, a full recovery is not likely, but a normal happy life can still be enjoyed for a period of time.  As the pet owner, you decide that path for your pet.  The path of good quality of life for an animal can be very costly, as well.

If euthanasia is not your first resort should something happen, then unquestionably pet insurance should be in your budget.  Pet insurance is not going to provide “free” medical benefits for Fido and should never be considered as a way to unlimited pet care.  It should be considered as a financial help in the choice of a better quality of life for your pet.  For me, I wanted to give my Smudge a good quality of life for the time he had left.  Although the doctor said he had “weeks to months” to live, I had no knowledge of his exact time left or the amount of money it would take for the time he did have.  That answer came upon his death after 120 days and nearly $10,000 of medications, testing, and doctor visits (not including premiums, travel, diet changes, etc.).  With my pet insurance policy on Smudge, I was reimbursed a little less than 45% of my outlay which means it cost less for Smudge than the three-night stay for Sampson back in 2016.

In closing, for those who have read this far, and may now be considering the purchase of some type of pet coverage; I wish I could provide some insightful advice on buying pet insurance.  There are just too many companies out there and each company has a variety of plans to meet your needs.  There are just as many websites on the Internet that offer information as to what to look for in a pet insurance policy.  You need to weigh how much you can spend monthly on premiums, and figure what you may be reimbursed based on deductibles and co-pay amounts should something happen.  If those stars align okay for you, I would sign up right away (most likely there are waiting periods, no pre-existing conditions allowed, and restrictions with the policies).  I chose the fifth “best” pet insurance company (according to a review website) and a modest plan for my three older Labradors.  There was a stipulation that no claims could be made within the first couple weeks of the policy, and the dogs had to have a vet stamp of good health within 30 days especially for their hind legs (because Labradors are prone to hind leg and hip issues).  Also, learn how your policy calculates payments; my company applies the deductible amounts AFTER the co-pay amounts are calculated; meaning your out-of-pocket expenses for covered charges could be higher than you expected…

This particular company I chose calculates your reimbursement in the following order:  1. The co-pay is applied to the total amount of the covered claim.  2. The deductible (if applicable) is then applied.  3. The remaining balance is paid subject to the coverage’s maximum annual benefit.

Reimbursement Example (with an unmet annual deductible)

Vet Bill	$12,100.00
“Not allowed” as preventative vaccines	-$100.00
“Allowed” by policy language	$12,000.00
Co-Pay (20%) of $12,000	-$2,400.00
Deductible ($1,000)	-$1,000.00
Reimbursement to You	$8,600.00
	You Pay $3,500.00        They Pay $8,600.00
Based on how we normally calculate medical deductibles and co-pays; you would pay $3,300 and the company pays $8,800; but in this pet policy… not so much.

The cost of veterinarian care is on the rise.  The vets need to make a profit in order to run their practice.  People are more in love with their pets then ever.  And if you love your pet, consider a policy today.

Agree to Disagree… Never!

I have an observation about politics today that I need to get out of my head… it is damn gone crazy!

When Donald Trump was elected to be our 45^th president many people that oppose him just went over the edge.  It was fairly wide spread that it was so intensely insane that this man was in charge of our government, that there have been protests after protests just about getting Trump out of office.  To take it a step further, if you (any other person in this country) voted for Donald Trump, then you are just as bad as the person you elected.  His beliefs are your beliefs and his beliefs are beyond despicable; thus, you are beyond despicable, as well.  Families have split, friendships have ended, and people have taken this to the core of being personal.  And I still see it in Facebook posts all the time still since Election Day 2016.

I’m pretty sure that Trump’s womanizing and some of the things he said about women have created the biggest hoopla; including his overly crass mannerisms.  But the way he talks about real life matters is like he’s still on his TV show.  I think that is what makes those people that already hate him, hate him even more.

But I can’t ever recall a sitting president being called so many bad names, and using bad language, and swearing and cursing and hateful speech coming from so many of his detractors.  And these people have no remorse and do not hold back in calling those that voted for or those that still support Donald Trump the exact same things.  I have read many people think this is the start of a modern civil war; the Democrats v. Republicans.  The attacks against Obama and the First Lady were out there in full force; but, it seems with each president the level at which the attacks come seem harsher and harsher.  I remember back when I was a young adult and Johnny Carson would poke fun at Presidents Carter and Reagan.  I thought THAT was improper and in poor taste… how disrespectful.  With each administration, it seems the anger and the voices grow.  The sixties and the riots and protests were like an explosion of pent up frustrations and hurt… then we became civilized and it grew like an ugly monster.  No one holds back and sometimes uses the strongest words to gain shock value, to shake the nerves of others, to get attention.  No polite conversations, no debates, no nice-nice… right to the throat.  With Trump, we can’t keep up with who is getting canned or sanctioned for speaking badly of the him.  I think those “in charge” gave in and let anyone spew…  (I think of the TV talk show The View.  I am amazed at what those people are allowed to say.  They could literally spread fear and violence with their words to millions of gullible people.)

Now, President Trump has an opportunity to fill yet another seat on the Supreme Court.  I think that was unexpected.  Before Trump’s election, Judge Antonin Scalia died while Obama was president and the Republicans pulled some stunt to delay Obama’s choice until after the election.  I think the Democrats were banking on Hillary to win, because I don’t recall a tremendous fight about it.  But Trump got to pick a guy named Neil Gorsuch and he made in to the Supreme Court.  I figure the Dems knew they had little chance to delay and hold out; so he got in.  But then, unexpectedly another Judge,… Judge Anthony Kennedy decides he’s going to retire leaving ANOTHER opening for a Republican president to put in his pick.  This time the Dems are going to fight this one; and fight they are.

Trump’s pick is Judge Brett Kavanaugh.  All I heard about this guy from the beginning was that he was a really good judge and everyone should be happy with his placement.  But apparently not.  I think the Dems want to delay this appointment until after the 2018 November elections because they believe they will gain control of the House and Senate.   All of this is based on the two years of Democrat’s hate towards Republicans and some of the state elections that got so much attention.  When the Democrats won tough contests, I think they saw a pattern to play off for the future elections.  Alleged sex scandals have also plagued Republicans and affected the polls.

So, if they can delay this appointment, and regain control… then the Dems can force a vacancy until such time as when they get to put in their choice for the Supreme Court.  And of course, it goes without saying that the republican choice leans to the right (conservatively) while the Dem’s choice leans to the left (liberally).  And the hot issues about gays, guns, abortions, death penalties, etc. could come before the court and the decisions would be based on how they lean.

This is what I believe is going on.  Only I also think it is conceivable they want to smear this Judge’s name in an alleged sex scandal.  As of today, they are calling for this guy to step down from his nomination not so much that he’s been accused of some inappropriate acts in high school and college, but because he got mad and showed emotion during these proceedings.  Anger and emotions unbecoming of a judge.  The proceedings of course drilled him for days about his beliefs… then; this sex scandal is thrown on him.  He’s been called a lot of bad names; like rapist, sex fiend, and alcoholic.  He said; she said.  But mostly every Democrat says the woman is credible and therefore, that is enough to say this man is a monster.  That alone goes against the Constitution, but the tactic to delay and build up public opinion on their side against him and try to convince Republicans not to vote for him.  And he got mad and let them know about it; and then he got choked up about it when his family (wife and two daughters) has to get involved.

So, that is what the Democrats are doing… what about the people I see on TV and read on Facebook?  They seem to follow suit.  The protests against this Judge are calling him every bad sex name in the book.  They are attacking his demeanor due to his outburst.  They are attacking now his beliefs in abortion, guns, presidential authority, etc. as being extreme and he has no ability to judge on these issues.

But I read and listen to the soothsayers out there that spread the worst possible outcomes should this man be appointed to the SCOTUS.  People that fear for their children, for their daughters, for the gays and LGBT community, and immigration, etc.  Everything is DOOM and GLOOM and DISASTER if this guy is appointed.  He is evil.  Republicans are evil.  They represent hate.  And of course, the Democrats are good, they are love.  I am not kidding in the language used by people I know on Facebook, by celebrities on TV (The View, late night talk show hosts, even TV news bias), and the politicians themselves spreading propaganda and giving speeches and wanting people to sign petitions… to describe the worse possible outcome should he be selected.  I think it is a little over the top in that dramatic view… why?

Because if the Democrats get their way and appoint a liberal judge of their choice; the Republicans and every person who support the republicans will be screaming bloody murder; just like the Dems are now.  I’m serious… if Hillary had been elected, the world of Facebook would crucify her every day of her term(s).  Falsehoods, accusations, threats, and every bad word would fly out of the same people today that say, “Accept your president-elect (Trump).  Look how he’s trying to MAGA.”  The division would live on… the other side will be mad, unhappy, protest, scream, and cry.  A liberal judge selection would be the end of the world to the Republicans.

In order to stay sane during this shit time is to remind yourself that we are a country divided… basically a two-party division.  A huge division where either one side is “happy” and the other not.  One side will always claim they are right and the other side is wrong while the other side will claim they are right and the other side is wrong.  It is like people trying to convince the other side that their way is the best way the right way the way it is going to be so stop complaining… hahaha!  We will never agree; and we will never accept that from others.  We will never agree to disagree… that my friends is a myth.

PS. I have read two articles (one is a transcript of a speech) that express what I’m trying to say;

This is an article opinion by James Simpson a Facebook friend posted.  http://thefederalist.com/2018/10/03/kavanaugh-allegations-psychological-terrorism-time-end/

This is a speech transcript by Senator Susan Collins; whom I do not like.  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/05/us/politics/susan-collins-speech-brett-kavanaugh.html

Hit and Run

I witnessed a hit-and-run on a busy two-lane street today. The victim was a grey squirrel that made a bad choice trying to cross the road.

“Oh, thank goodness!,” you may have thought, “It was just a squirrel, and not a person.” So, why am I writing about just a squirrel? Because I noticed something I thought was different that made me contemplate changes in our of thinking as a society. (Maybe.)

An eastbound vehicle’s tire must have struck and rolled over the furry grey squirrel and wounded it very badly. Whatever extremity of the squirrel the tire caught, it appeared to have plastered it to the concrete roadway. It was alive and could not move out of the road in any direction, as it seemed like that injured leg or paw was literally stapled to the pavement. In a small pool of fresh blood, that helpless squirrel writhed in pain… flipping frantically like a fish just off the hook.

Driving my car in the on-coming lane toward the injured animal, I watched as each car in the other lane moving closer upon seeing the distressed squirrel, slowed to a roll and maneuvered around it. I saw three to four cars do this in a row as I passed the scene. The squirrel was not going to survive… I was sure of it.

I thought, “Who’s gonna put that guy outa his misery?” Which translates to wondering if someone else driving a car knowingly or unknowingly would steer the driver side front and rear tires over the squirrel, ending its life somewhat quicker than had someone not. Which brought me to my big inquiry; in the far past (say prior to the 1970s), would a male driver be more inclined to realize the situation and kill the animal using his car with a certain amount of “I’m-doing-the-right-thing” consciousness? I say “male driver” because typical females in my opinion have always had that sensitive nature to all cute creatures and would never purposely carry out such an act. For that matter, would the male driver of that period be more inclined to take out any live critter (besides cats or dogs, I hope) with his car if he had the chance?

I’m convinced in today’s overly sensitive PC culture where feelings and emotions are taking over the factual and natural environments, we (especially males) couldn’t kill a cockroach to feed our family. No one wanted to (or chose to) end that squirrel’s suffering, and yet, no one wants to see a squirrel suffer (I would think… I mean, driving around the bloody mess for some kind of pleasure would be really sick, if you asked me). And once those drivers squeezed past the gruesome display, they continued on their way. Not killing it, but also not stopping to save it… and as did I; I was left to ponder the whole nut.

PS.  Not long after I published this post, a video from a police officer’s body cam in BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. was on the news.

https://wnep.com/2018/10/08/officers-body-cam-captures-life-saving-cpr-performed-on-squirrel/

A local man accidentally clipped a squirrel with his car.  The man saw the squirrel on the side of the road and attempted CPR to the stunned squirrel.  The squirrel eventually comes around and runs off.

Similar Scenes

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2018

On my drive home from work today, I saw two similar scenes that garnished two quite different reactions.

Background; Driving home, early evening, down a typical Chicago-edge neighborhood street lined with thin residential lots but not too thin. Similar brick ranch homes all aligned equal distance from the street. These homes have room for that single car garage in back fed by a narrow driveway off the road I am traveling. A mature tree in the front yard, providing shade on the picture window showing off the home’s living room. Surrounding many of the trees is the extent of ornamental landscaping for many of these modest domiciles.

Scene One; There’s an older Asian gentleman standing in his yard near the house wearing loose, white-colored pajamas. I assumed he was old by his thinning hair, aged faced, and long, thin stature. I assume he lived there because most people don’t stand in other people’s yards wearing only pajama-like clothing. Perhaps he lives with children’s family; much like they do in his homeland half way around the world. His hands were clasped behind his back, his head bowed down and his eyes seemed fixed on the plants growing around his tree. In the seconds I saw him and continued on by, I imagined the man as a weathered Chinese Buddhist monk acknowledging the creations before him. He knows each plant by name, and can tell you each flowering pedal’s purpose in his life. He senses the recent weather, and current air conditions and the dry soil. His next movement after I’m miles in the distance is surely to retrieve the watering can, fill it with water, and share it meticulously with his entire garden. He contemplates life and meaning of all’s existence.

I drive a quarter mile or so down the same road.

Scene Two; There’s an older… man. A white man standing in his yard in the same general location as told above but at a different home, of course. I assumed he was older because of the white hair receding off his forehead. He was wearing a white, slightly tucked, “wife-beater” T-shirt and dark colored shorts that could easily pass for a pair of boxers. His gut was large and hid a portion of those fancy shorts. I didn’t see if he wore anything on his feet, but I imagine black socks and brown sandals. He held something in his right hand, and unfortunately it wasn’t a beer can or that would have really made this story fun. My imagination immediately compared these two scenes, and tied them together tighter than the buttocks of a straight man going to jail. I didn’t imagine this man caring too much about the life giving Oxygen emitting from the green plants, or if the weeds were over powering the azaleas. I imagined his wife had either told him to check on the garden or he had to get out of the house…

Conclusion; It is my own beliefs and the stereotypes that reside in my own head that created the scenarios I imagined above. I saw humor in nothing more than two neighbors taking an interest in the nature around their trees. And it is in these observations of what I made on my own, compelled me to write it for you now.

Racism is Cookin’ Up on the Grill

Good headlines will always get my attention… they have to; otherwise, I don’t give a shit.  My attention span sucks so bad these days.  My therapist says I have Adult ADHD, and I say, “What? I wasn’t paying attention!”

So, anyway, I saw a specific headline that caught my eye earlier today (05/22/2018) on the MSN.com “home page.”  MSN.com “home page” is a default web page that we get at my work when I open the “New Tab – Internet Explorer” shortcut on my desktop.  The “home page” has a big window with about 20 headline stories and advertisements to scroll left or right through.  Each photo has a headline and clicking on the words links to the story source.  The remainder of the “home page” is an endless sea of selections of varying themes that can be found by forever scrolling down.

I’m scrolling down and come across that interesting headline; ‘BBQing While Black’ event held in spot where white woman…  Where white woman… what?  The photo in the headline is a black man standing over trays of smokey charcoals and a large wire rack with every inch of it covered with a variety of meats; predominantly large sausages.  (Nothing phallus going on there.)  I mean, c’mon, racism already reeks in this one from the get-go… why not have large sausages and a black man in the picture?  The source is CNN… another clue into the world of loaded media.  In the background are people, trees, and event tents all of which come together to give the impression of a pleasant outdoor community festival.  So, what does a white woman have to do with this?  What did a white woman do in this location that inspired a “black BBQing” event?  That’s why I found this interesting and interesting enough to click on this news gem.

The CNN news story goes on to shout the following headline,

“A white woman called police on black people barbecuing. This is how the community responded”

The story is rather short, and you should read it.  The gist of the story is that a white woman witnessed a black family firing up a charcoal grill in an area of that park where charcoal grills are banned.  The next thing you’ll read is that somehow the videos and the narrative went viral and gained a leftist spin that this whole kerfuffle was adding “fuel to the national conversation about white people calling police on black people for seemingly trivial reasons.”  Really?  So, in response to this disgusting white woman’s obvious fear of hatred of black people (wrote in a sarcastic font), a couple of intelligent and sympathetic black men organized the ‘BBQing While Black’ event consisting of; 30 street vendors, local businesses, six DJs playing hip-hop, R&B and ’80s soul music.  There were dance contests and local council candidates.  All organized within a month of the fateful phone call to police.

I read this and thought, okay… that will show this white woman who seems to have problems with black people invading her space… perhaps.  I’m white.  I was part of a group of white kids in junior high school that were accosted unprovoked by a group of black kids during a field trip to a museum in the city of Chicago.  Sometimes, white people have a reason for feeling on edge around black people.  But, sometimes we have to trust that not all black people are bad people… duh!  WE KNOW THAT.  I really think we white folks for the most part do know that.  But I read that a white woman (that’s the only description given) unfairly brought dishonor to blacks by calling the police.  Intrigued by this, I Googled “BBQing While Black.”

The HUFFPOST source for this story was the one I choose to read more about this.  Again, the headlines drew attention to the absurdity of this yarn.  “Their crime?,” the headline read… “Using the wrong type of grill in a barbecue-designated zone”  How trivial?  It was all because of their skin color, wasn’t it?  Read on, please.  Even the article author, Carla Herreria was kind enough to write some details that seem to be more truthful than we have been led to believe.  Herreria writes that the woman saw that the Onsayo Abrams’ family was setting up a charcoal grill in a park barbecue zone not designated for charcoal.  Abrams told her he didn’t see a sign, so mind your business.  She said, if Abrams continued she would call the police.  He didn’t and she did!  So, now she’s attracted the video attention of some curious bystanders.  The videos and the people made this all look like this lady was scared of the black man.  She kept her distance as she dialed the police; interpreted as fear.  To me, that was just the smart thing to do.  If you’re busting someone for breaking the law, you sure as heck don’t want to be within smacking distance.

No where in the article was it implied that this woman did what she did because of a race issue.  She was even quoted when asked about why she was calling the police; that she called the police to enforce the no-charcoal BBQ zone.  BUT… by the hands of some one it became a race issue.  The race card was played.  The whites picking on the blacks.  Another example of whites using police as their personal bodyguards… YES, that was implied in the stories.  The family’s day was ruined, although no citations were issued.  But in that spot, the community came together to say …

IN YO’ FACE