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.