of broken bones and early morns

(the next few posts will be me venting about the failure of a system that’s meant to assist the elder citizens of this country…)

8:00 AM phone call, after a series of complete ball drops:
“…your mother can’t get up. Says it hurts to try to walk. I think she fell because there’s a scrape on her back. Can you come?”

Of course, in spite of the crappy evening of pretend sleep, so similar to the last week of nights, we both get up, shower and make our way over to the ‘rent’s new apartment. The apartment my father pleaded for the entire time he and mom were in assisted living; his “prison”.

Park, run upstairs, ignore father, mom’s in bed:

“Hey mom! How are you? How do you feel?”

“Ok.”

“Wanna get up? Can you go for a walk?”

“Ok. (attempt to help her up) Ow, it hurts.”

“Where?”

Pointing to left hip,”Here.”

“Dad, what happened?” Stupid look then, “I don’t know.”

Ever so thankful for kind nurses and large husbands, C get’s her up and into the wheelchair borrowed from the front office. Down the elevator, into the 4-door car, return the chair, off to the ER.

6.7 minute car ride later, arrive at hospital: pull up front, new wheelchair, check her in, sit down…and wait.

As any of you who’ve been to the ER know, keeping track of time in there is rather pointless. Suffice it to say, C left to buy groceries from the rent’s apartment and, at least 70 minutes later, mom’s name was finally called.

Into a room, then forms, questions, tests, pokes, prods, x-rays. Diagnosis? Broken hip.

Nice staff, though.

If you’re religious, don’t read on

Really? I fucking hate God right now.

Why? Is he not a ‘merciful God’? What’s merciful about Alzheimer’s, child deaths, cancer, war, and all the other awful afflictions that hit the human race on a regular basis. If there was a God, he wouldn’t let parent’s see their kids die before them. He wouldn’t let  kids witness their disappearance from their parent’s memories. He wouldn’t let a child be born the day his father dies at war. Do I really need to continue….

Blasphemy, you say! Walk for a sec in my current shoes. then let’s parlay. And I don’t even have it nearly as bad as so many others.

Do I feel sorry for me? Yes.
Do I feel bad for others? Absolutely.
Have I learned something from this—am I still—most definitely.

Believers say “God is trying to teach us something”. Perhaps. But let me tell you, there must be better ways, un-embittering ways, to get your message across, sir.

Brilliant…even if it’s a hoax

I wish more folks out there had this lady’s (a United Airlines gate agent, location differs) gumption. The world would certainly have more laughter in it.

A crowded flight was canceled. A single agent was re-booking a long line of inconvenienced travelers.

Suddenly, an angry passenger pushed his way to the desk. He slapped his ticket on the counter and said, “I HAVE to be on this flight and it has to be FIRST CLASS.”

The agent replied, “I’m sorry, sir. I’ll be happy to try to help you, but I’ve got to help these folks first; and then I’m sure we’ll be able to work something out.”

The passenger was unimpressed. He asked loudly, so that the passengers behind him could hear, “DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO I AM?”

Without hesitating, the agent smiled and grabbed her public address microphone. “May I have your attention, please?”, she began, her voice heard clearly throughout the terminal. “We have a passenger here at Gate 14 WHO DOES NOT KNOW WHO HE IS. If anyone can help him with his identity, please come to Gate 14″.

With the folks behind him in line laughing hysterically, the man glared at the United Airlines agent, gritted his teeth, and said, “F*** You!”

Without flinching, she smiled and said, “I’m sorry sir, you’ll have to get in line for that, too.”

…AWEsome!!!

Secret credit scores

Not sure you know but, there’s a new bill floating about that pertains to the ‘secret’ credit score banks and other lenders use to deem us worthy of credit and a reasonable APR. Yes, we can pay to get our score, but they use a special one we never see. This is a form letter to my representatives, which I personalized from Consumer’s Union. Please, consider heading over and filling it out.

In this economy, it is more important than ever for me to take charge of my financial future. That’s why I urge you to support legislation to make sure my credit score is included free-of-charge in my annual credit report. I deserve to see the same scores lenders will use to decide whether I get credit, and for how much.
American can currently get a free annual copy of our credit report. But if we want our credit score we have to fork out at least $9 per agency, or sign up for trial offers from fly-by-night companies that force additional (largely unnecessary) services on us; and this doesn’t even get us the ‘secret’ score lenders use!

Knowing that my spending habits are maintained correctly, and that some miscreant is not currently using my information to better his living conditions, is very important. However, making the crucial decision about the best time to buy a car or refinance my house can only be done knowing my credit score; the one lending institutions see when they ‘look’ at me. How can I possibly believe them when they say I’m getting their ‘best deal’ if I have nothing to hold them to?

With all the steps that have been taken over the last ten years to better educate Americans about how credit scores and credit worthiness impact them, shouldn’t actually knowing it be the next step in taking control of our lives?

Please, I urge you to support this legislation. Perhaps our economy wouldn’t have hit such drastic lows had more of us been better informed.

On a related note, Colorado is trying to pass a bill that would keep employers from using credit reports to decide whether or not to give you a job. Half of employers nationwide say they use this in their hiring decisions. Why? Generalizing is dangerous and can absolutely ruin someone’s future. Most Americans are not that educated (still) about how not minding their credit could affect them. How could an employer possibly know the applicant didn’t just go through a horrible divorce, an identity scam. Your credit report doesn’t prove how trustworthy you are; it merely shows you’re on top of managing your money.

Credit reports and scores are for us and lenders, not employers. Period.

Sequestration…

Fair warning: I’m going on a rant here, so if you’re not into a bitch session, click away.

The U.S. government stumbled headlong on Friday toward wide-ranging spending cuts that threaten to hinder the economic recovery…

Why does the American public have to suffer because Washington bureaucrats are so busy arguing with each other that they can’t find a weeee bit of time to sit down and speak with civility to one another and try to come up with a solution for our country? I’ve met 6 year olds with better speaking ability and manners…never mind charisma. Perhaps I’m stupid, or completely mistaken, but wouldn’t cutting the salaries of the hundreds of overpaid fat cats in the government help us cut costs?

Who loses with budgetary cuts anyway? It’s certainly not them.

In the absence of any deal at all, the Pentagon will be forced to slice 13 percent of its budget between now and September 30. Most non-defense programs, from NASA space exploration to federally backed education and law enforcement, face a 9 percent reduction.

Look around you, you selfish pricks. Does it look like America is fine and dandy? Does it appear as if we’re completely back to the glory days of 15 years ago? Get your heads out of out fat asses and smell reality. Our country need help, guidance. As a whole, our nation is not a bunch of free thinkers. We’re used to being led, goverened, told the best way to do things. That’s why we elected you and pay your salaries. We placed our trust in you, but year after year you let us down, all the time filling your pockets with our hard-earned (and flat-lined) wages.

The International Monetary Fund warns that the cuts could slow U.S. economic growth by at least 0.5 of a percentage point this year, hitting the global economy.

I for one am tired of their bullshit. Sadly, I’m not sure what else to do other that try to vote out the imbeciles and freeloaders. Sure I can write letters, but really, who want to be told they’re an idiot doing a lousy job. It’s not like I can call my representative and tell him to wake up and smell the donuts. The letter I get back will likely be from his secretary anyway, Mr. Rep having never even glimpsed it.

Both sides still hope the other will either be blamed by voters for the cuts or cave in before the worst effects predicted by Democrats come into effect.

I’m not sure what altered reality Washington lives in, but the rest of us are immune to it. How many people need to be  unemployed, how many houses foreclosed on, how many more school and senior programs need to be cut. C’mon guys, stop peeling money away from programs that can scarcely afford it. Step back and register exactly what’s going on around you…and then act.

Note: I found synonyms of the above word quite apropos: attach, confiscate, impound, seize, seclude

(all quotes from Reuters)

Unmanned aerial vehicles: yay or nay

 

Drones. What do you think of when this little word comes up in conversation, on your TV? Do you imagine the lives that can be saved when they’re used in hostage situations; or do you think of the myriad possible infractions on your privacy? There is so much good that can come from this technology! In the right hands and for the right causes, these are invaluable life-saving devices. From a behind-the-scenes look at a hostage standoff, to being the front line of an advancing security force, to gauging the level of destruction in an otherwise unreachable area, drones could—and have—help immeasurably.

Then, like anything else, there’s the dark side: spying, invasion of privacy, the trouncing of our constitutional rights. Thanks to former President Bush’s countless constitutional offenses, our government is currently the scariest possessor of UAVs on the planet.

Where does this place us? With a public fearful of the ‘what ifs’, how will police stations, fire departments and other aid sources get the approval to purchase, let alone employ, these helpful devices? The interesting this is while state agencies require permission to purchase and deploy uavs, any civilian can buy one off the shelf with no permit. Further stifling aid, many states want to ban this technology. While these dangers can come from anyone—a neighbor, a colleague, the random thief—the depressing realization is many of us primarily fear our government.

With a country so fearful of its leaders, mistrusting every little thing it does; with media outlets constantly exposing any minutiae that might be at all interesting, regardless of future consequences—how are we ever to explore new advances and emerging technologies if all we’re led to do is fear them? I supposed the question is where do we draw the lines?