News Diversity

One ideology I wish to depart upon the masses is to NOT get your news information from one source (or only from viewpoints to which you agree).  All news is biased.  All news wants to manipulate.  You know the old saying, "Tell a lie three times and it becomes the truth."

Sadly, society believes what is pounded into our heads by the talking heads.  Don't fall for empty half-truth, incomplete, emotionally charged sound bites people post on Facebook and other social media and network news.  If you ever notice, people ONLY post their own points of view.  That's a sure sign of a weak mind that is easily manipulated.

In a weird way I don't blame Zuckerberg for not wanting to interfere with what people post.  What is the truth, anyway?  My truth is different than your truth.  Who is right?  Truth is dependent on who sees it as such. Once we go down that path of censorship path it's a slippery slope of who gets to decide what the truth is.

Everybody is so gung-ho on diversity, so why do we want to limit it on obtaining news information? 

If You Ask Me - Eleanor Roosevelt

This book was copyrighted in 1946.  It is signed by Eleanor Roosevelt herself, and it's something I would save in a fire.  This book is a compilation of questions asked of the former first lady by people of all walks of life.  What I find so fascinating is that we are STILL asking the same questions and grappling with the SAME problems 75 years later despite numerous government and social programs later.  See for yourself just one example.  This one is about free and honest press.  It's as relevant today as it ever has been.  

Birth Control and Viagra

I can't believe birth control pills are still an issue.  Which century are we living in?  Some employer health plans want to ban covering birth control pills as it's against their company philosophy.  Since when does an employer get to also be my doctor?  Birth control pills are prescribed for more than preventing pregnancy.  They are used to also treat endometriosis and ovarian cysts, which are very painful conditions.  Does my employer get to deny covering treatment for that when it's readily available?  

I've ranted about this before.  I sit on a health trust that once upon a time covered viagra but not birth control pills.  I lost it.  I put my foot down and was adamant about that if we cover one, we cover another.  There is no medical necessity for viagra other than ego.  That's not true for birth control pills.  We cover both now.  I was not going to back down. 

Bottom line:  If pregnancy is God's will, and that's the reason why some employers don't want to pay for birth control pills, then a limp dick is also God's will. 

Workers' Comp Claim: COVID

It's happened.  All COVID cases will automatically assume that they were contracted at the workplace in California.  As an employer did you follow all the guidelines?  How are you going to prove that your employee did NOT contract the virus at work? 

Good luck with that.

This is the death knell for small businesses who employ about 1/2 the workforce.  They simply don't have the bottomless resources to comply with all the safety issues the virus has brought on. 

On another note, do you know who the biggest winners are in the economy right now? 

• Amazon
• Microsoft
• Netflix
• Facebook
• Apple
• Alphabet (Google)

Yup, that's right.  Big Tech is winning the game big time.  It should be concerning that 6 companies control 25% of the S&P 500.  That's way too much power in the hands of a few.  That's our real issue here, people, not political candidates.  This issue scares me more than whomever ends up living in the White House.  It's also one that neither political party wants to touch, but it's impact will be felt by all of us.  I think it should be a question for the presidential debates.  Wait a minute.  Even if the question is asked during debates politicians don't have a good track record of following up with promises, nor telling the truth. 

We are no better off than we were 100 years ago with the Bell's.  They had to be busted up because of the concentration of power in the hands of the few.  History repeats itself. 

The Drive

We have been long-time friends with a family for over 30 years here in Sonoma County.  We love them and treat them like family.  We have shared EVERYTHING together including our pregnancies and births of our kids.  We have a tradition of going to Christmas Eve church service each year (and no, the walls don't fall in when I enter) and crying on each other when the church lights are dimmed and the soloist sings O Holy Night while we light the candles across the pews for each other and the other congregants.

We have shared camping trips, Thanksgivings, Independence Days, birthdays, funerals, weddings, Christmas, softball, LIFE.  My kids look to this family as their other parents and siblings.  Wearethisclose. 

The father male of this family, let's just call him Sonny, is the nicest guy in the world.  He grew up in a very financially privileged family in Pebble Beach complete with house servants, private schools, gated communities, etc.  Sonny's mother was a friend of the Hurst Family and they spent time in their mansion(s).   However, Sonny's parents ended up getting a divorce and none of the money was making anybody happy.  Sonny ditched the goal of being financially "rich" seeing what money did to people, and pursued a humble but dignified life for himself and his family working an honest job.

Yes, Sonny ended up getting VERY rich, but not with material wealth.  His family is everything to him.  He volunteers for several community causes.  He does not do this trying to get points for running for public office or other ego-filled reasons.  He does it because he truly cares.

About 20 years ago Sonny got prostate cancer.  Good thing they caught it and he recovered.  About 5 years after that he came down with colon cancer, and he got through that.  Then his wife came down with breast cancer, and she got through with that.

Enough of the cancer, right?

Finally, a reprieve.   Life is kinda normal for a while.  We celebrated Thanksgiving together this past year.  We each went around the table saying what we were thankful for.  When push comes to shove, we are thankful for each other and our health.  Oddly enough, my husband had a heart attack the next day but that's not what I'm focusing on right now.  I'll save that story for another time.

Then comes Christmas and we celebrate with our annual Christmas Eve church service (so much to be thankful for) and annual Christmas breakfast.  Then comes January and the trip to Tahoe.  Then comes February and our birthdays, then comes March and COVID.  I decided to host a kick-ass party before we were all sent into isolation - I saw the lockdown coming.  It was a party to end all parties.  People were singing, dancing, eating, and just cutting loose having a great time.  Even normally reserved people were cutting loose, which I take as the highest of compliments.

It's been FaceTime conversations since with Sonny and his family ever since as people with compromised immune systems need to take extra caution.  We wanted to get together for the 4th, but with the spike in cases we nixed the idea.

Then comes the phone call.  Sonny called to say his cancer had returned.  This time it's in his blood and it's very aggressive.  It's not leukemia, but another type of blood cancer.  Sonny is not one to complain about anything - ever.  He was saying how tired he was and how crappy he felt.  The doctors are scrambling to get him into UCSF as soon as possible.  In the meantime he had a platelet transfusion here in Sonoma County.  He was released to go back home after the platelet transfusion.  He is getting weaker by the day and it can be heard in his voice.

Sonny's main concern was getting to UCSF as his wife does not drive on the freeway.  He asked if I could drive them, which of course I immediately agreed to do.  The catch was they did not know of the exact date nor time he would be admitted to UCSF.  It was a two-three day window and he had to be ready to get there when they called.  We were all on-call. 

The call came yesterday afternoon.

I picked them up and Sonny was not himself. His voice frail, his energy off, his coloring ashen.  His wife was visibly upset and scared.  I wanted to burst out into tears, but I had to be strong for them.  On the drive to San Francisco we talked about positive topics as I wanted to keep the energy as light as I could without being phony or patronizing.  All the while I was driving all I could think about was, "Is this the last time I'm going to see Sonny?"

The last 30 years flashed back and everything we have shared.  Upon arriving at UCSF I said the words I don't throw around lightly as I dropped them off, "I love you."

When it comes down to it, people, love is all we have.  Nothing else matters. 

My Grandma is Giving Me WHAT for Christmas?

Take a look at the below photo.  It was a gift from my maternal grandmother, who was so Catholic she would have made the Pope look like a heretic (God rest her soul), for Christmas in 1984. 

My jaw dropped to the floor when I opened it.  I thought to myself, "Why would my loving, Catholic, wholesome, grandmother be giving me birth control pills for Christmas?  What kind of girl does she think I am!"

This was 1984.  I was 17 years-old and my father had nightmares about keeping the boys away.  I had "done it" with a boyfriend I thought at the time I loved.  How did grandma know?  This is so humiliating!  Why would my grandma stick birth control pills in my stocking as a Christmas gift?  The last thing I would ever want to discuss with my grandma would be my sex life.

This is the WORST Christmas Day EVER.  Grandma knows that I'm having sex and gives me a pack of birth control pills.  Please.  Please, just leave me in the corner to DIE of embarrassment and humiliation as my dozens of cousins looked over to see what grandma got me.  I did not even know where grandma would even GET pills to give to me, let alone to know what they actually were.

Ohhhhhhh the SHAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wait just one minute.  This was a lesson on jumping to conclusions.  Look what happened when I opened up the pill box.

It was a calculator.  I still have it in my possession to this day.  It reminds me to not jump to conclusions.  Many times we form a strong opinion about something without listening to the entire story and only seeing just the surface or one side of an issue.  Things are not always as they appear to be.  Just think if I would have gotten upset and assumed my grandma was giving me birth control pills, in front of the entire family no doubt, and stormed out causing a scene?

Life lesson learned, grandma.   

Nasty Door

My faith in humanity has taken a dip.  I ditched social media with the exception of a couple people I follow on Instagram who actually post some really fun stuff.  Wait a tick.  That's a lie.  I'm also on Next Door, but I renamed it Nasty Door.  I thought Next Door would be more community building, but people on there can be just as obnoxious, political, and self-righteous as Hatebook.  I don't look at the posts anymore as some people are downright mean.  What ever happened to love thy neighbor as thyself? 

Going to send some love vibes out to the universe. 

Max Headroom

Ok, do you all remember Max Headroom?  I believe he came around 1985.  Anyway, with all the online meetings I'm doing these days, I feel like Max Headroom has been reincarnated.  So many people on my meetings actually sound and look like Max - complete with the crappy internet connection.

Sons of Liberty

The latest binge watching we are doing right now is Sons of Liberty.  It's all about how the United States of America was formed and how we separated from England.  Of course, the English are all betrayed as evil and we are all heroes. 

There are always two sides to each story.

I wonder how the English teach their students about the American Revolution?  What's their viewpoint?  I'm no history expert, but from my limited knowledge there were some missteps on the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts that were amended, but the colonists did not get the news before violence went past the tipping point. 

Are we better off separated from England?  I really wonder sometimes. 

4th of July 911 Bingo

Both my brother and nephew are 911 dispatchers for the same department.  When on duty for the 4th of July holiday they have this little game.  It's dark humor, but so what. 

Commercial Real Estate

I'm glad I'm not invested in commercial real estate.  Can you imagine?  Tenants are bailing left and right.  Nobody is coming to the office anymore due to COVID and it does not look like they will be returning.  Leases are being broken.  Why pay rent on a space you can't even use?  Offices need to be totally reconfigured to allow for social distancing, etc.  What about shared spaces like kitchens, break rooms, and bathrooms?  There are many workers who are not comfortable sharing a bathroom, and I can't say I blame them. Retail space and office space are going away like the DoDo bird. 

Switching gears, my industry is embracing online meetings.  Finally.  These old geezers are finally getting a grip that they don't have to fly across the country to hear themselves talk.  Our industry is transforming from a meeting based organization to an online organization.  I'm excited about the transformation.  Many of my colleagues are wanting to retire because of it.  My role going forward is to help the organization make the switch. 

Have a wonderful Independence Day.  What are we doing?  Pretty much a lot of nothing except household chores.  We are in the midst of a huge project and it's been sucking up a lot of time. 

M's Dating Life: Part XXVI

Poor M.  Her dating life continues to be very complicated.  I think she has some subconscious issues where she finds herself attracted to men who are not available for one reason or another whether they are emotionally unavailable, married, whatever.  She's had her share of decent guys who are available, but she finds reasons to ditch them.  My arm chair psychological assessment is that she is terrified of real, raw intimacy.  A solid guy scares her to death.  There needs to be something complicated or 'forbidden' for her to want to continue the relationship. 

Yet we go for lengthy walks and I listen to her lamenting about her lonely single status and how she aches for a real love.