Opinions

Forcing your opinions on others rarely works.  Nobody has ever changed their point of view on a subject by getting in another person's face about it.  What's wrong today is that everybody thinks their opinions are facts.  Everything is an opinion, and that's a fact.  Well, that's my opinion.  I'm entitled to my opinion, as are you.  Yes, I'm OPINIONATED on MY blog, which you are in no way forced to read, forced to agree with,  and I'm not in your face about it.  I don't even solicit readers.  You're here because you happened to stumble on this site.

Here's a little quote to leave you with.  I can't take credit for it, but it really resonates with me.

"Everybody is drowning in the sea of their own opinions.  Each time they open up their mouths, they  take on more water."

......that's why I write ;)

Emergency Rooms

Hospital emergency rooms have become the drop in clinic for illegals.  And I mean drop, literally.  They get themselves pregnant so they can drop their anchor babies here in the United States as they are automatically citizens. Just ask any nurse who has spent time in a Latina clinic.  There are mothers asking the best way to get their teenage girls knocked up. 

Health insurers are doing better at establishing urgent care facilities, but they don't accept cash and there has to be enrollment and eligibility via their employer or however premiums are collected.  Patients already have to be insured to use urgent care facilities. 

In the meantime the illegals clog emergency rooms as they have no insurance. 

How did we get to this? 

For starters, stop paying cash under the table for your shit work you hire Mexicans to do for you. 

White Kitchens

We are reverting to an early 1990's trend of white kitchens.  EEEEEEEgads.  It's every cooks nightmare.  No, not that we are unsanitary slobs, it's just that the kitchen (for us cooks) is the busiest room in the house.  It's like putting white carpeting in a heavily traveled hallway.  Why??? 

Anybody who has a white kitchen does not actually use their kitchen - it's all for show.

The Divorce - FINALLY

My office assistant has been having an affair with a guy in England for 8-10 years now?  I can't keep track.  Rewind 30 years:  They met here in California when she was still single and he just got married and had a kid.  I guess she did not want to be a home wrecker.

Whatever.  He goes back to England and she stays here in California. 

The sparks were too hot to handle and they reconnected some 8-10 years ago.  Here's the problem:  She's married to a decent guy and they have two kids.  Mr. English Dude is twice divorced with 5 kids....AND....he's prohibited from entering the United States because of something on his record (red flag).  He's telling her it's because he used to be a Hell's Angel back in 1986, but I'm not buying it.

Cliff's Notes:  English Dude can't come to U.S. because of something that allegedly happened over 30 years ago while riding his motorcycle up and down California....hmmmmmmmmmm.

Long story short the word is out and my office assistant's husband is FINALLY filing for divorce.  Thank GODDESSES.  I usually don't drive anybody to the airport, but I will make an exception for Office Assistant as she has done less than nothing for the last 12 years.   I will even help her pack. 

Little does Office Assistant know that she's about to go from the frying pan into the fire.  She thinks the grass is greener.  Not my place to judge nor preach.  All I see is the opportunity for her to jettison out of here.  Hallelujah.  BUH-BYE. 

I don't care.  Please, Office Assistant, go across the pond to get your jollies.  Don't think you have to stick around here because you think the office will implode if you are gone.  It won't.

DON'T LET THE DOOR HIT YOU IN THE @SS ON YOUR WAY OUT

The Pee Tree

Once upon a time a little boy (aged 4) spent a lot of time on his family's ranch in Sonoma County.  The little boy associated that being outside meant he could pee on a tree.  Little Boy goes to preschool.  The preschoolers are unleashed outside to play.  Little boy wonders off to the back corner of the playground to pee on a tree.

One would have thought North Korea was dropping a nuke directly on top of the preschool as complete overreaction and hysteria ensued.  The preschool director was reaching for any and all sexual harassment situations and investigation protocols outlined in the school's policies and procedures.  The school's swat team of of counselors swarmed in to see if any other kids experienced any trauma that could lead to PTSD that could be traced to witnessing a little boy's privates urinating on a tree.  Child protective services conducted an investigation to see if Little Boy was experiencing abuse at home.

.....all the while Little Boy had no idea what he did wrong...

Another Social Media Friendship Termination

Social media is the bane of society.  Why everybody feels the need to broadcast their personal and political beliefs is beyond me.  "A social media post totally changed my perspective on a hot button issue," said nobody - ever.

As I'm typing this another long-term friendship is totally destroyed because of social media.  The sad thing is that both of these women are good friends of mine and I love them both dearly.  Granted, they are on opposite sides politically, but I thought true friendship could endure political differences and debates.

Silly, naive me. 

My mind goes back to not-so-long ago when we all would be at each others' homes having a BBQ in the back yard on a beautiful Saturday night.  Laughter was abundant.  Wine was flowing.  We all shared parts of our lives that even the biggest social media whore would never disclose as we all sat in a circle around the fire pit as night fell.  ahhhhhhhhhh friendship.....how wonderful it is. 

.....and then social media came along......

What social media started out as "look at me, aren't you jealous" evolved into a poison political forum where truths are fabricated and vice versa.  Now, another friendship is destroyed because both women thought their positions on abortion were correct.  This is (or should I state was) a friendship that is 40 years old and goes back to childhood.  Arguing about the unborn is as fruitless as arguing about which came first - the chicken or the egg (no pun intended).

I'm genuinely sad about the nastiness both of my friends displayed at each other.  In my heart I truly believe that it would not have sunk to the level it did if they had their conversation face-to-face.  It's so easy to hurl insults and opinions from behind a screen.  I'm guilty of it myself and it's not a flattering trait.

Both friends are not budging in their positions.  That is their right, I suppose.  I'm caught in the middle.  I think both are wanting me to weigh in with my opinion.  Truth is, I don't know what the truth is.  I have held beliefs that I would have sworn to God to be truths shattered in an instant.  I have had others' opinions that I initially blown off to be bogus turn out to be (what I believe) to be truths. 

As the song Knights in White Satin indicates, "Just what the truth is, I can't say anymore......"

Another song lyric comes to mind from the late George Harrison, "The more I learn the less I know."
 
I challenge everybody to spend time wrestling viewpoints from the opposite spectrum.  There is a grain of truth in all of it.  Maybe it is just a grain, but it's there.  Don't limit yourself by surrounding yourself with people and media that only reinforces your own prejudiced viewpoint.  In my lifetime I've observed that whatever you're vehemently against has a way of showing up in your life to deal with.  For example, (dramatic license invoked) I know of a woman who is against abortion and thinks that women who have them should be stoned to death.....until.....she discovers her own daughter had one.

Hamilton

I went with a group of friends to see Hamilton.  No, not the Air Force Base in Novato (or at least there used to be a base there - now it's housing built on top of a toxic dump and a shopping center).  There has been hype about this play for about three years.  People would pay thousands of dollars to see it in NY so they could brag to their friends that they saw it.  Now that the initial hype has diminished plebes like myself have the opportunity to see it.  I was unsure about it as hyped-up productions rarely live up to the hype.  It was an opportunity to be with friends and have a good time so no matter if the production fell flat I was happy. 

Hamilton did not disappoint.

Black men played the parts of:  Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, Aaron Burr, and Thomas Jefferson.  Quite the twist of history, but it worked.  The singing talent alone of the cast is enough to keep the audience engaged.  The play reminded me of School House Rock for adults, you know, putting history to catchy music and song to resonate with modern kids.

Sonoma County Traffic

We are choking on traffic.  However, the Press Democrat keeps telling us that the population of Sonoma County is shrinking and that there's been a 45% increase of those working from home.

Two and two are not adding up to four. 

Gavin Newsom

So, Gavin Newsome has "found" a surplus to combat homelessness and illegal immigrants.  Really?  What about our:  Infrastructure, crappy schools, public pension obligations, veterans, elderly, and basically everybody who has been trying to do the RIGHT and LEGAL thing all of their lives. 

Moral of the story:  Be an illegal fuh-cup and the government will bend over backwards for you to find money that does not exist.  Oh it exists, off the backs of those who have given their lives paying their taxes. 

I don't sit here pretending I have the answers.  I don't.  There are no answers.  I just get perturbed when the state cries poor mouth and then suddenly "finds" money for everybody EXCEPT those who have done the right thing.

If Newsom is so brilliant and has all the answers, why did not he solve the homeless and illegal immigrant problem while he was in San Francisco? 

pfffffffffft.  Good luck, pretty boy.  You're full of the feces that plague the San Francisco sidewalks. 

Red Neck Wimin

Yup.  Can't spell, either.  Only phonically (fonetiklee).  
Nobody has more fun than I do on NOTHING.  My friends are real, are yours?  Are you lonely?  Maybe it's because you're an asshole. 

Here's to all the other Red Neck Wimin out there----yeeeeee hawwwwww

Uncle Buzz

I got word that Uncle Buzz died.  He was my father's brother.  I remember being a little girl and rubbing my hand on his head as he had that Marine Corp buzz cut while the family gathered in front of the TV to watch Green Acres and Petticoat Junction (yes I'm dating myself) after everybody came in from shoveling pig shit and whatever else needed to be done around the farm.

My dad, Uncle Buzz, and my grandfather would have have their ducks lined up in a row (really - not just a saying) in the breezeway of the farmhouse.  One would de feather, one would cut and gut , one would get the pin feathers, etc.  Years later I would be one to remove the pin feathers.

The last time I saw Uncle Buzz in person was about 8 years ago when we were in Colorado for a youth sporting tournament.  We went to his house in Estes Park for a visit.  Uncle Buzz was a horse loving cowboy, and my daughter is also a natural with horses.  It seems to be a theme in my family.  My daughter had the time of her life.

Uncle Buzz loved Trump (whatever) but in his defense, he would always take the time to explore where the 'other side' was coming from even if he did not agree with it.  Uncle Buzz served in the U.S. Marine Corp and was also a prison guard.  He was one tough you-know-what.  He kind of reminded me of Clint Eastwood.  He took no BS from anybody. 
Uncle Buzz was the white Anglo-Saxon Protestant so typical of the farming mid-West.  However, he took the time to read the Quran as he wanted to try to understand it.  I have to give him credit for that.
 
I remember calling Uncle Buzz when I was in grade school as I was writing a paper and I needed his first-hand experiences on the subject of his tenure as a prison guard (I got an A).  I just remember him saying that some people are just bad seeds.  No rehab will save them and they will ALWAYS be bad seeds.  Others in the prison system made some bad choices, but were the victim of their circumstances.  They were not bad seeds, but just got sucked into a situation that spiraled out of control and they ended up in prison.  Uncle Buzz could 'read' souls and know the difference. There is no text book on that, people. 


Around Christmas time I called Uncle Buzz.  You know, where you actually pick up the phone and dial a number?  I wanted to wish him Merry Christmas.  He was not into social media, cell phones, texting, whatever.  I knew he was sick, but I also knew he did not like to talk about it (so Midwestern).  To keep the conversation light, I told him my memories of him as a kid and what made me laugh.

I had the sinking feeling then that I would never talk to him ever again.