Dementia

What do you do when somebody you know and love has early dementia?  I'm seeing this happen with family and friends.  What's worse, the person who has the dementia is in complete denial and believes they are of totally sound mind and it's everybody else who is out to get them and lock them away in a home. 

One case involves a woman I have known through work for 27 years.  She was always a bit on the "ditzy" side, but now her adult son has to watch over her constantly as she left the garden hose on and flooded the downstairs office in about 3 inches of water.  She also believes that the gardener is planning on harming her (he has been an employee for 15 years). She will also take the opposite stance on whatever the subject matter may be just because.  She also fails to remember things and is quite fragile physically.  In the past year she has been in three automobile accidents, but refuses to give up driving.  Of course, she thinks she is totally fine.  Her own immediate family beg to differ, but don't even THINK about disagreeing with Mom The Matriarch.

The other case involves a friend.  She was one of the first friends I made when I moved to California almost 30 years ago.  She was always a bit on the high-maintenance side (just ask her husband) but lately she says and does things that are just, well, cooky.  She will berate wait staff if her food isn't an exact temperature.  She says really strange things to her son.  She will give strong, personal opinions to complete strangers.  There have been more than a few times I have given the target of her unsolicited opinion an apologetic smile and put a swirling, index finger-to-head to silently signal she's not in her right mind.  Again, my friend thinks she is PERFECTLY NORMAL AND HER BEHAVIOR PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE.  She gets defense and angry if anybody gently indicates otherwise.

I think it was Voltaire who said that the our world is an insane asylum for the rest of the universe.

End of an Era

I so wish terrorists and such could be rehabilitated with love, hugs, and warm chocolate chip cookies.  Unfortunately, there are those out there who would love for you to witness them torture, mutilate and kill your loved ones and kids.  It's sick out there, and we are protected from much of the information so the general population doesn't panic and retains the luxury of lollygagging about sipping our lattes and debate whether or not to vaccinate kids and bitch about the tacky color of the neighbor's house.

Oh, to have such simple irritations and things to gripe about.  I don't think it will last.  Enjoy it. 

Well, with global warming and our oceans reacting as such we will have much more to complain about in the not-so-distant-future.  No longer will job status and other economic indicators define your importance in society.  It's all going into a mode not centered about bank accounts.  I think we are nearing the end where money and commerce shapes society.  We're ALL going to be on the reality show "Survivor" pretty soon whether we want to or not.

Don't look for rain anytime soon in California.  The jet streams have been destabilized by climate change and have completely changed.  The jet streams provided that precious vein of rain and California will remain "drier than a popcorn fart" (borrowed that saying from Grandpa). 

We are figuring out we can't have it both ways.  We can't have all the conveniences of modern society and technology without harming the environment.   It's either one or the other.  Pretty soon the choice will be made for us. 

ACA Backlash

I totally agree with the concept of health care.  I applaud this administrations efforts.  However, at the very core of it all we still have a for-profit system which is in direct contradiction to the Hippocratic Oath. 

Something has got to give.

Employers are figuring out that it's so much easier to dump their company sponsored health plans and send their employees to the exchange despite the so-called measures in attempt to deter that.  It's especially true of employers with a transient work force base like retail and restaurants where turnover is frequent. 

The problem is that once the employees are left to fend for themselves in obtaining health insurance many are shocked at the premiums -- even at the exchange price -- and opt just to go without it.  Why should they pay for something that they can get for free at the emergency room?  Most people are living paycheck to paycheck and the addition of a chunk of cash to pay for health insurance is the straw that broke the camel's back.   

This does not bode well for those who are insured and paying premiums.  Hospitals are not giving away their services for free.  The insurance companies just go after those who have been paying all along by raising premiums. 

We can't continue to have free emergency room system unless those in the medical profession are willing to work for free.  I have no idea what the solution is. 

Frontier Pioneer

I guess my family has always been on the forefront of things whether it's by choice or not.  They carved civilization making the way west out the wilderness as American pioneers since 150 years before the American Revolution.  Yup, they are a bunch of hardworking, tough bastards who are not afraid of rolling up their sleeves and getting dirty to get the job done. 

Me?  I'm a wimp but I still find myself at the forefront of things -- although not necessarily out in the wilderness.  I was the first woman in my organization in a historically male position.  I was the first one to set up a home office with internet and a fax (this was pre-wireless days and had the now antiquated duck quack telephone sound connection).  I was the first one to "blend" family and career by showing up to meetings with a sleeping baby in a car seat way before it was "hip" to do so. Now I'm at the forefront of ACA implementation and the California Sick Pay mandate and responsible for setting company-wide policy on such.

I DID NOT ASK FOR THIS!!!!!!!!  I don't go out looking for implementing and administrating sweeping changes in social policy.  IT FINDS ME!!!!!!!!!!!!  God knows I try hiding in my office hoping that somebody smarter than myself with more energy takes the reigns and plows through all of this.  I'm not smart enough to see this through.  I'm really an idiot.  There are so many moving parts to coordinate that I get headaches just thinking about it.  WHY ME????

Filing Cabinets: Going Way of the DoDo Bird?

It's getting to be spring, tax season, and audit season.  Lots of renewals, compilations, etc., are being retrieved out of the archives.  Believe it or not, my place of employment has been around since 1904. 

That means I have actual filing cabinets with some really old documents.

My daughter came into my office and made the comment, "Wow.  Filing cabinets.  Who uses filing cabinets anymore?"

I know everything nowadays is electronic.  Technology is both a blessing and a curse.  The other thing about technology is that it will fail at some point -- it's just a question of when.  My filing cabinets have stood the test of time for well over 100 years.  

Black Magic

Ever since I was extremely young I've known that I was "different."  I can sense things the vast majority of the population can't.  Being both curious and frightened of what I experienced I went looking for explanations when I was old enough.  Finding reputable material on the psychic and paranormal in generic, white, middle class, you-are-either-Catholic-or-Lutheran culture of a mostly frozen Midwest tundra left me wanting.  My parents discouraged my exploration as it was "devil black magic."

I quickly learned to keep what I experienced hush hush and go about being "normal" for whatever that meant.  As times changed being "different" became more acceptable.  There is now an entire business industry based on it.  The danger is sifting through the charlatans and those who are true.  There is no shortage of White Lighters (spiritual frauds) out there who are only too eager to take your money leaving both your wallet and soul empty.  

Well, I'm hosting my very own Black Magic Experience for a very select few in my inner circle.  You won't find it advertised anywhere. 

Saturday Night Live Turns 40

While I was at the health club today with my pilates group one of them mentioned at the end of class that tonight was the 40th anniversary of Saturday Night Live. 

 We all immediately went into character remembering our favorite skits that made us laugh, and all of the talented people on that show over the years.  It takes a lot of guts to perform in front of a live audience let alone on national television.  There is no director commanding "cut" for a retake of a scene gone awry. 

SNL has been part of my my life since it began in the 70's.  Many nights we would stop what we were doing to tune in.    Here are some favorite skits, but some of the BEST ones (IMHO) are not here:(     

All About the Bass

Oh yeah....  I've got CURVES and all the right junk in all the right place....  Secret.... I LOVE drawing the shades and dancing to this song...and I can shake it, shake it, like I'm supposed to.  I'm surprised I did not audition for the video;)     Years ago my brother's friend made the very graphic comment that he did not like super skinny girls as it was like sleeping with a bag of coat hangers being all bony frail.  LOL

Uptown Funk

What do I do when feeling blue?  I seek out my dance troupe.  One exceptionally talented choreographer put a dance together for us with this song.....and yes, my spot is next to the black women in our troupe.  We're about to take our show on the road. 

Don't believe me just watch;)

California Employment Law

Yeah.... mercury must be in retrograde.  I have not yet reviewed the astrological chart for 2015, but I just have a feeling it might be.  It's either that or I feel just completely bitchy, overwhelmed, and annoyed. 

But really....what else is new.

It seems like the business world has come out of its post-holiday coma and now everything is exploding at once like it's been under a pressure cooker for way too long.  Where do I start with 2015?

Well, let's rewind to November 2014.   I took time to visit my son in San Diego for an extended Thanksgiving holiday.  Upon returning from San Diego my brother-in-law had the audacity to die in a car accident on December 10th.  The funeral was set for December 21st.  How DARE anybody die at such an inconvenient time!!!!!  Of course the funeral was in a different state with sub-zero temperatures so flying was the only option of getting there. 

Add into the mix of trying to look happy to everybody and remaining functional while dealing with a death in the family and my scare with breast cancer. 


Now the business world shuts down for about two weeks until January 5th.  Trying to tie up loose ends before the year-end cut off is about as productive as a one-armed wall paper hanger.  You try and try, but just can't get the job done.  It's an endless greeting of 'out of office' email replies and voice mail messages. 

January 1, 2015.  Welcome to tax season.  Welcome to new laws bored bureaucrats have invented to create even MORE paperwork.  Welcome to politicians who have grandiose ideas and no resources to implement and track the bull**** laws they pass -- they leave that to us.  Welcome to expiring labor contracts and despite declining numbers, union members still want MORE.  It's not enough that they have full benefits and wholly subsidized health care for themselves and their dependents.

Just between the Affordable Care Act (ACA) reporting requirements for both employers and employees (which, by the way, have NO teeth for 2015 -- I'm not joking) and the implementation of the California Sick Leave mandate I'm ready to blow my brains out. 

Now I know why unethical businesses skirt all this employment law bull**** and pay cash under the table.  It's so much easier and the chances of getting caught are nill to none.  If caught, the fines and punishment are worth the risk.  It's a wise business decision. 

Anti-Immunizations - Hairy Armpit Club

Front page of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat today implored the "vegan-hairy-tree-hugger-bisexual-prius-driving-whole-foods-shopping-organic-garden-environmentalists" femme bots lot to PLEASE get your kids immunized. 

...and that goes for the mothers of these youngsters, too.. and not just the "Whoz Yo Daddy" sperm doners...

Thanks a lot, West County Hairy Armpit Club.  We welcome diseases like whooping cough and measles back into the masses because YOU wanted your 'religious exemption.' Great.  Just because your kid did not score 100+ on the "My Kid is Better Than Your Kid" state exam you're looking for someone/something to blame.  Yup.  It's vaccinations.  Damn it.  Vaccinations have saved millions but there MUST be a link because your kid is STUPID and unfit for polite society.....and have been vaccinated. 

Really?  You are all such hippo-crates.  You shun medical advances that have a proven effect on the betterment of the greater good while your 'save-the-world-we-are-all-one-save-the-whales' equality sticker on the back of your Subaru speeds away from the very belief system you pretend to belong to.  It's about the 'Common Good for All' until something rubs *YOU* the wrong way.  

Then you're balls out.  True colors show. 

Please.  Drive off a cliff with your cell phone in hand and Junior securely fastened in her car seat listening to Baby Einstein whilst your bitching about the evils of modern medicine and technology to your like-minded Bored Moms on Prozac friends mid sentence. 

We are all hoping that cliff is good and steep.....(sigh).....  Chances are your kid would have just grown up to be the sniveling whiner his/her parents were.  Buh-BYE!!!!!!

Health Care and Rehab

If you're smart become an owner of Trembling Hills Recovery Center located in the bucolic Sonoma County Valley or become an alcoholic junkie -- or both.  Why?  Because ObamaCare (a.k.a. ACA) has removed limits on the number of times and dollar caps on chemical dependency rehabilitation for you and your eligible dependents. 

I bet you did not know that.

I bet your employer does not know that, either.  They sign on the bottom line when renewing their health insurance contracts and they are not really paying attention to the limits and coverage that's in the fine print.  All your employer really knows is that the premiums have increased -- again.

The devil is *really* in the details.

Here's the plan.  Go out on a workers' compensation or medical disability.  Both are super easy to fake as fraud is sickeningly rampant.  There is a slew of doctors cashing in on the madness who are only too happy to diagnose you and sign the needed forms.   Go out on some obscure disease or condition that does not always have actual visible signs like depression or fibromyalgia.

While out on leave, become addicted to the pain killers the quack doctors are passing out like M&M's for your "condition".  Wash it down with bottles of booze.  After having the party of your life, tell your employer you need in-patient rehab for 30 days.

Here's the best part.  Your employer can't legally terminate your employment.  It's against California law to discriminate against employees returning to work from workers' compensation or disability.  Also, obscure medical conditions are protected under the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act).

Return to work for just enough time to regain eligibility for company health benefits.  Repeat injury/rehab cycle.   If you play your cards right you can work your way to the coveted status of  SDI 'permanent disability' and collect social security disability benefits for life. 

Oh.... I almost forgot to add this other very important component.  The caps and limits have been removed for mental health as well.  You can go to Dr. Shrink for all eternity.  This can also play into your lifetime disability scheme by threatening to kill your co-workers as you're about to obey the voices in your head.

Frozen Dog Shit

Planning on a get together with my Minnesota BFF's.  During the course of our group text planning MRH always comes up with topics that make me howl with laughter.  Another one in my group, TYD, recently got a puppy and she included a picture on one of the texts that inspired a chorus from the rest of us of "awwwwwwwww isn't the puppy CUTE."

Of course puppies are cute....and kittens....and babies.  One of the side-effects and responsibilities of being a pet owner (or a parent for that matter) is the endless cleaning up of feces and vomit.  My group of besties and I are now seasoned veterans at each -- being a parent and also a pet owner. 

MRH tells it like it is.  No holds barred.  She chimes in with the truth on dog shit.  In her own words here is her exceptionally accurate depiction, "No shortage of dog shit for me to pick up.  Now it's so frozen I can't even PRY it up.  Plus, my right wrist is broken so that makes it even harder.  Lots of dog shit waiting for me come spring."

Yup.  Frozen dog shit.  Frozen diapers.  At least when it's frozen it does not stink.

 

Phuket - FUCK IT

I was at a coffee shop in Petaluma today.  The local paper was there for all to read.  I just about spewed my coffee in laughter reading this headline.  Just exactly WHERE is Phuket?  Fuck it.  Yeah... that's where I want to live;)  Paradise. Phucking Phunny!!!!! 

Ambulance Rip Off

I'm telling you.... the health care industry is plagued by corruption, confusion, and greed.  I have a front row seat to this circus and it makes me ill. No pun intended.

Today I had to hear an appeal for a health plan.  The appeal was what the participant was charged directly for ambulance service here in Sonoma County and wanted us to cover 100% of the charges incurred by the ambulance company.  


We knew what the UCR (usual and customary rates) are for ground ambulance charges are and paid 85% of that rate -- the plan maximum.  What I heard today was that the ambulance service charged the participant 3x what the UCR rate is -- as the participant got a bill from the ambulance service company looking for payment on the difference that our plan did not cover.

Question:  Why is the ambulance service billing customers for exorbitant fees waaaaaaaaay above the 'usual and customary rates'?  Because people don't realize what the FAIR rate is for an ambulance ride and they are ripping people off by sending out inflated invoices.  People don't think to question what the UCR even is or that it actually exists. 

Scrutinize EVERY BILL you ever get from a hospital -- they are the worst.  Add to the confusion the implementation of Obama Care (ACA) and nobody knows what's really going on.  Nothing is working like it's supposed to.  It's an administrative nightmare.  The greedy are still trying to capitalize on human illness, suffering, and needs.  That's part of the reason why it's such a mess.  A for-monetary-gain-health system is evil.  Even Kaiser, who pats themselves on the back proclaiming "not for profit," is really for profit.  Don't be fooled for one second.  There is no limit in reserves for a non-profit organization.  Kaiser has more money in "reserves" than they can count while jacking up your premiums in double digit increments.  

And.... medical providers, pharma, dental providers, etc., are ALWAYS the first ones to sponsor and appear at our glitzy industry golf tournaments bearing raffle prizes for the drawing at dinner.  They seem to have plenty of money for that.

On Doing Nothing

Sometimes the most difficult thing to do is NOTHING. 

My Pleasure

I stay at a lot of high-end hotels and resorts because of my job.  There is something in 'hotel-speak' that really bugs me.  Maybe it's because men were generally the first set of business travelers and it's a lame attempt at eroticism, but the hotel employee response phrase of "my pleasure" really creeps me out when stating simple, routine requests.  What, pray tell, are the employees doing fulfilling my room service order that is so "pleasurable" for them.  Ewwwwwwwwww!!!!!  I don't want to know! 

It doesn't stop there.  When calling for housekeeping, room service, the concierge, or the front desk from the phone in my room, the voice prompts always seductively instructs me to "touch 8 for  housekeeping, and touch 9 to reach the bell desk."

Really????  If that is phone sex people are sicker than I thought.  I don't want anybody to even attempt to try to turn me on while on a work trip -- especially strange hotel employees.  I don't want to "touch" anything, and I don't want some hotel employee having too much "pleasure" around my food before it's brought to me.  To have hotel employees try to sexualize my stay just resonates connotations of a house of ill repute. 

German vs Other Languages

I have learning languages on my "bucket list" now that I'm in a place where traveling to such places is a possible reality.  This sums it up. 

Shopping Bags

I got this burlap Beatles shopping bag from a dear friend in Liverpool some years ago.  I drag it around everywhere with me like a security blanket.  I LOVE THIS BAG!!!  I always get comments from cashiers and others standing line on how cool it is. 

I was using recyclable bags long before it was mandatory here in California.  I always thought that plastic bags were wasteful and harmful to the environment.  Question:  Why are plastic shopping bags banned, but plastic bags are still available and used in the produce section, meat section, and around newspapers?  What about all the packaging around consumer products?  Certainly we can do better. 

Illegal and Licensed

I don't get it.  How can you be in a country illegally and still obtain a government issued drivers license?  Beginning tomorrow here in California, we are going to experiment with such a concept.

I'm VERY touchy on this subject as I have had family and friends die in car accidents.  Granted, idiot drivers come in all forms.  There is no shortage of drunk drivers, speeders, red light runners, and inconsiderate road-ragers.  The last thing we need on the roadways is a whole new class of inexperienced drivers who have already demonstrated disrespect of our laws.  Yeah, right.... like this new class of drivers is going to be properly insured and such.  We treat driving as a right and not the privilege that it is.

Insurance companies are already planning on jacking up *YOUR* rates to accommodate the new classification of drivers.   Don't believe me?  Just wait.