Sometimes really bad happens

I work in a hospital and see sick people all the time ; I hope that I help to either get them on the road to recovery or at least make them more comfortable. The ones that touch me the most are the young adults with Cystic Fibrosis or Sickle Cell Anemia. Life is such a struggle for them and in all reality will never be a whole lot better. Sickness is nothing unusual in my profession but here lately I have seen some really tragic situations. First there is Sharon with her husband sinking deeper into dementia; she is his 24/7 caretaker and the one who has to earn their living. Then there is Stephanie who is recovering from terrible burns following a plane crash; she has 4 children and cannot take care of them. The good thing with her is that they are Mormons and have good support from their community and family and she is improving. Yesterday, I learned that Brandy's husband is critically ill with Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome; it is unknown whether he will live and if so what condition he will be in. Hard to understand.

Thought for the day:
What is the purpose of life? Why are we here? To help each other get through it.

Very Good Day

There are days when you have so much to do but obstacles keep coming up frustrating all attempts to get anything done. This was NOT one of them. The stars must have been in the correct alignment because I just zipped along from one place to the next getting everything done. I went to the cleaners, to the bagel shop, had my 9 o'clock haircut appointment, bought nuts at the warehouse, bought stamps for the newsletter at the Post Office, went to Penney's (where they not only had what I wanted in my size but it was on sale—buy one, get one free!!), picked up a sandwich at the Potbelly's drive through, and was home BY NOON. Since my luck was soooo good, I probably should have bought a lottery ticket...but I don't buy lottery tickets but I'll betcha if I did buy lottery tickets, the one I would have bought would have won...

Thought for the Day:

"If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace." John Lennon

National Healthcare

Is this ever a topic to ruminate over!! Thoughts in no particular order:

1. We waste sooooo much money in the current system.

2. Other countries manage to provide reasonable healthcare for their citizens.

3. Everyone (with the possible exception of the Warren Buffetts and Bill Gates income levels) is really just one catastrophic disease away from bankruptcy whether they have insurance or not.

4. If I were an insurance company, I would sure want to require everyone to have insurance, i.e. pay me. (And we have all had such pleasant memories of trying to get the insurance to actually pay for things....)

5. The conversation stopper: FEMA

The Lost City of Z by David Gramm

I finished listening to this on CD on my way home from work last night. It is non-fiction about the explorer P.H.Fawcett and his explorations into the Amazon in the 1920's and especially about his search for the lost city of Z. All I can say is that I may have been willing to go on one expedition into the Amazon but after starving, being eaten my insects and parasites, and infections, I sincerely doubt that I would ever have gone back. It evidently takes a mind set that I lack. The book was interesting and I learned much about the indigenous people of the Amazon and I learned more than I wanted to know about maggots and the body. Usually one of the best things about listening to books on CD is the reader's voice; this one was adequate but not outstanding.

I have mostly stopped buying books on paper and get them on CD to listen to while on my daily commute. Although it is more expensive, I really enjoy listening more and besides it makes the commute much more enjoyable.

Thought for the Day:
"A writer only begins a book. A reader finishes it." Samuel Johnson

Putting things off

We are focusing so intently on getting the mortgage paid off that there are many things that I choose to just put off. There are big things like replacing furniture, blinds, & valances and little things like new sheets and kitchen towels. Being a habitual list maker, I have a When the House Is Paid Off list. We are getting close--6 more months--and I am getting antsy to start working through the list. (At the top of the list is a dishwasher replacement.) I don't want to do anything though that would jeopardize accomplishing the main objective but oooooh how anxious I am to start down that list!!

Thought for the Day:
Lord give me patience and give it to me right now.

GM in Bankruptcy

Today's news is all about the GM bankruptcy. I suppose the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history is newsworthy but it is hardly something new, unexpected, out of the blue. Then handwriting was really on the wall when GM lost customers like JMM and me. Why have we bought Japanese cars and not GM?? Simple dependability. The one time we bought a GM vehicle was in the early 1980's when we bought an Oldsmobile. It was a dream to drive--for about 2 years and then things started going wrong with it--the a/c, the windows, etc. I finally traded it in and we went back to Toyotas--good gas mileage and utter dependability. I now have a Honda Odyssey with over 100,000 miles on it and guess how many times I have had problems with it--zero. I take it in for maintenance and never have I had any problems with it. And the Honda dealership where I take it, treats me like royalty.

I am sorry for the GM workers, bond holders, and retirees but not sorry enough to buy a GM car.

Thought for the day:

Henry Ford:
A setback is an opportunity to begin again more intelligently.

My Luxury

I admit it, I love having someone come in and clean my house. And I love Adrian. About 8 years ago, I decided that with my CMT either work or housework was going to have to go and since I make a lot more money than I would save by cleaning my own house, I would hire someone to clean. Back in the old days when most everyone had household help, you could check around and see who was available and who had good references. Now though, everything is franchised and you really don't know who is going to show up. So I called Molly Maids and took a chance. The house was cleaned but the people kept changing. After less than a year that Molly Maid franchise folded but one of the regular cleaners asked if he could continue to clean for me--that was Adrian. I said sure, same days, same pay which worked out fine for me because I had a regular, steady cleaner and fine for him because he didn't have to split off a percentage for the franchise owner. As I got to know Adrian, I liked him better and better. He is very dependable and does a good job. I pay him $100 to clean my house--it is well above the going rate but I want to be his number 1 priority. Anyway, I encouraged him to expand his business--business cards and fliers, and to get dependable people to work with him so that he could build his business. He now has all the business he can handle; he says that his biggest problem is finding reliable workers to help him. He is from El Salvador and is the kind of immigrant that we need more of. The sun is shining and Adrian is here cleaning, all is well in my world.

Thought for the day:

But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads?- Albert Camus