Missed this SNL skit....it's in such bad taste it's hilarious!

Motherlover

On the horizon?

Tomorrow begins week three of my unemployment and while we have enough for a few months it is still worrisome. Last Tuesday I tested and interviewed for a customer service position with Geico. I passed their initial test and I felt the interview went well but have not received a return phone call. So I am disappointed and feeling a bit down. But I look at any prospective job with the attitude that if I don't get it I was not meant to have it. I will keep sending the resumes with the belief that something will come through. Tough game to watch the Dallas Cowboys game today, not sure how they managed to pull it out. But as they say, a win is a win. It is a lot easier to work on correcting the problems after getting win. Hopefully the Raiders will still be enjoying their upset of the Bengals today once Thursday comes around and the Cowboys will be able to take care of business without too much drama.

Three Rivers...

watching the new medical drama "Three Rivers" and while it is a feel good medical drama, it just does not portray an everyday hospital realistically. The doctors are a little to pretty, the technology a little too exotic and overall just too slick for it to be accurate. I don't think I will be watching it again.

Tomorrow...

is the big day. I will find out if I still have a job and Tammi should find out when we can meet with the surgeon to discuss the next step in her treatment. What did you think of Lady Gaga on Saturday Night Live? I have heard of her but had not really listened to her music, so I have been checking out her videos on youtube and I do like her music. Is she the next Christina Aguilera? She sells sexiness, but the what today doesn't? Even ads that have nothing to do with sex use hot young women as there spokespersons. I like a lot of her songs that I have listened to and I feel I do not have to apologize for that. As for SNL, it just is not funny like it used to. Every Saturday night I stay up just to watch it but increasingly I do this to listen to the guest host opening monologue and to watch the musical guest. The skits just are not funny for the most part. I have also noticed that the musical guests are now being included in the skits. I think anything that may make the skits more interesting and humorous is a good thing. Well, my Cowboys lost again today, another game the could have and should have won. I have to face it, they just are not as good as I want them to be. All the ingredients are there but for some reason they are just not getting it done. I don't know if this current group is ever going to be top tier so I may have to wait another 5-7 years until a new group of players goes at it. Who knows, they may turn it around and in a year or two be that team but I just don't see it happening this year. They may go 10-6 and make the playoffs but then it will be one and done. Again. Mixed up some ground beef, spices, onion, and fresh peppers today for some awesome skillet grilled hamburgers. Tam loved them and she is my yardstick. If she loves it, then I did a good job.

whining...

just read an article in the ny times regarding the unionized workers at Walmart in Canada. went to the union website to see for myself what the talk was about. talk about whiners! "i work hard but haven't gotten a raise". what kind of bs is that? I work hard, haven't gotten a raise and I am just happy to have a job. if you don't like what your doing or who your working for, then move on. we were not born being owed a job. we learn a trade, work our way up some kind of ladder and if we (and that means me too) are not smart enough to save enough money in the event something goes wrong, then we suffer the consequences. "they know i have two kids at home" does not work for me. it is not the employers responsibility to make sure you handle your private life properly. people need to be accountable for their actions and quit blaming others. if you job does not pay enough, then get a second job or change jobs but don't blame the company.

don't think i will upgrade my laptop to windows 7. 2 reasons mainly. one, my current laptop, a dell inspiron b120 is probably a bit underpowered for w7. the other is i have read where just as with vista, a lot of older hardware does not work with it. i have a some older hardware and software that works just fine with my xp system so i think it would be good keep an older system running xp around for those times i want/need to use something incompatible with w7.

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what a hard weekend! worked 5 hours in the 103 degree sun loading the trailer to take a bunch of stuff to our oldest daughter. then yesterday, because i am insane to do the cooking i spent 2hrs outside grilling brisket (mostly precooked, just adding some flavor), chicken and sausage. but it was worth it in every way! it was absolutely delicious and everyone ate their fill. including the little ones aged 9,6, and 5. they usually take forever to finish their dinner but they couldn't get enough of the chicken. now that is a compliment. drove home yesterday evening with a shower and bed in our vision. so much still to do here to get our apartment looking like a home but we just have to take a day of rest. so for today it is movies, net surfing, and rest. after all it is a holiday weekend.

Who are they kidding?

Yesterday I read an article stating that due to the formula used to calculate the COLA (cost of living adjustment) for Social Security, there will not be an increase for the next two years. This after an increase every year for the last 30 years. Apparently, inflation is going to remain low for the next two years and low inflation is what keeps the COLA from kicking in. I am just an average person but when I can see my groceries continuing to cost more and my utilities have increased, I would say inflation is still with us. On this same theme, today my company put out a newsletter stating it was paying a very small dividend for the quarter just ended. Of course, the can pay this because they put a freeze on merit raises this year. Once again, shareholders take precedence over the most important resource a company has. Ah, the sign of the times. We are supposed to be happy we have employment (and I am) with the hope that when good times return the company will give back a couple of hours of overtime and annual raises (which they probably won't). Found a cool site for listening to music. Pandora is different than just streaming a radio station. You sign up, enter a band you like, and they choose other music based upon that style. Streams very good, sounds great, no hiccups, and free with advertising to support it.

Dejavue

I do not remember just how long ago, maybe eight years, I read a book titled "Den of Thieves". It was about Michael Milken and Ivan Boesky, men whose exploits in greed brought the destruction of many middle class people's live. This was 20 years ago that these events took place and yet look where we are today. Once again greed and Wall Street are causing massive pain to the middle class. And the Republicans say we do not need government oversight on Wall Street? How many times must the majority of us be at the mercy of a few people with more power than any one person or small group of persons should have? We can vote a political leader out of office if we disapprove of the job they have done but when it comes to those in charge of our money we must idly sit by while they do whatever they please.

Healthcare

In a time when so much illness has been cured and so much suffering has been eased why do we still have caregivers forgetting or not caring about the smallest of details? This past Friday my wife was transferred to a long-term rehab hospital and immediately we had to start complaining about proper procedures not being followed. My wife has had her body ravaged by a bacterial infection to the point where she has not walked in over three years. One of the simplest and most effective preventive measures for infection is to always use alcohol swabs whenever an iv line is separated and then reconnected. Another is you never, ever put a bedpan on someone's bedside table. As my wife reminds these "professionals", that table is her kitchen table that she eats from, would they put a bedpan on their table? Of course they wouldn't, so why would they put hers. Failure to swab the skin before an insulin injection is a big no-no as well. This comes down to nothing more than having pride in your job. Of course bedpan duty is an unwelcome job, but I ask anyone who ever reads this, what if this was your mother or wife, husband, brother, or child? At some point we are all touched by having a loved one in this kind of undignified position and the least we can ask for is to care for them with kindness and pride. My wife and I have been through this so much over the last four years that we know what to look for and how to get the attention of a facility. But there are so many people out there that are alone or incapacitated and cannot speak for themselves regarding their care. Fear of retribution should never enter the situation of a persons care and well being. I ask anyone who reads this, if you have the time, adopt someone at a hospital or nursing home as your friend so they may have someone to make sure they are receiving the kind of care and attention they deserve. It is bad enough a person has to live their last years alone, but surely they do not have to do it in soiled underpants that cause bedsores. Lets allow your elderly to live with a bit if dignity and self-respect. Force the hospitals and nursing homes to be accountable for their actions. If we are going to fix our healthcare system, part of it has to include better wages in order to attract the kind of employees that will take pride in the care they give to their patients.

Moved...

Well she is now in the rehab hospital. Her spirits are much better but it sure was hot in that room. Her roommate is by the a/c and they don't keep it very hot. I purchased a fan for her tonight so she is much more comfortable now. As long as her pain isn't too bad she will be able to sleep. And sleep is what she needs to heal and have the energy to do her therapy during the day.

Surgery...

To see a video of a knee replacement surgery very much like what my wife had, go here Knee Replacement Surgery

What is "News"?

Three things are needed to have "news". 1) Some kind of event has to happen 2) Someone has to report about what happened, either by direct witness or as told to them. 3) Someone has to listen to the person(s) who are reporting about the event. That's all. As long as all three criteria are met, it is news.

Taking things for granted....

So many times we hear about not taking things for granted. And it is true, the little things in life are what makes it worth living. A sip of water when your thirsty or maybe the shade of a tree on a hot day. Or, walking four feet when you have not walked in three years. The distance does not matter. The pain endured does not matter. The only thing that matters is that she accomplished this through her focused willpower. And tomorrow she will do it again. The smile of grandchildren can lead to the moving of mountains.

Best Friends

Yep, this is where we all are going to end up...

Since Tam spent the better part of 18 months in a nursing home we saw up front that this is true!

"The Bean Shooter Man"

This is pretty cool for all of us old creepy guys!