Civic Duty Question
I asked this “what if” question on my FB page in reference to this article. First, this:
“Dr. Thomas Frieden, CDC director, said the man arrived from Liberia on Sept. 20, but didn’t start feeling ill until Sept. 24. The man saught [sic] medical treatment last Friday before being sent home, but later admitted to the hospital on Sunday.”
Interesting that they “updated” the article to cut that part out. I just saw that, but I had quoted on my FB page. I guess they don’t want people panicking over the fucking STUPIDITY of their fellow ER denizens.
Anyway, here’s the question I posed:
Say that you were in W Africa for some reason. Business, visiting family, who knows, it doesn’t matter.
You come back to the US and a few weeks later, you start feeling real shitty.Now, do you:
A. Call 911, explain that you were recently in Africa, you are running a fever and other associated symptoms with ebola, and in an abundance of precaution, ask that they call ahead to a hospital which can handle isolating you and ask for an ambulance crew prepared to deal with a potentially “highly” contagious patient?
B. Waltz your happy ass into the ER with the babies with ear infections, kids with sprained ankles, various sick people, staff, and walk up to the intake desk to check in, share your insurance info, explain THEN that you were recently in Africa and may have been exposed to ebola?
I am FB “friends” with smart, conscientious folks. I suspect a few would actually do A. I know I would. No matter how foolish I would appear to the 911 operator, the ambulance folks, the hospital, I would not care, as long as the general public was protected from the potential of me passing on a deadly disease.
I think we, as Americans, need to prepare. This is like hurricane season in Florida. Water, fuel source, first aid kit, shelf stable and easily heated foods. Think about how long you can hole up in your house if your community had one, only one case. Think about your local hospital. I think most of us have been there a time or two. Do you think they have one, three, ten, isolation units? Do you think they have the protective gear for a level 4 pathogen? How many cases do you think they can handle before they are overwhelmed?
I’m not talking about running around like a chicken with its head cut off. I’m talking about calm, deliberate preparations in case you need to self-isolate so as to protect yourself and your family for an extended period of time. Think about it.
UPDATE: Here is a perfect example of taking care of your own. Brilliant. The woman took charge of the situation in her household, improvised, and had a 75% survival rate. And faith in God. God helps those who help themselves. Amen.
UPDATE II: Come to find out, exactly what I mockingly suggested in my “what if” scenario happened. Between the ER, the ambulance crew, all of it, yep. None of those details were out when I posited my thoughts.
September 27th, 2014
The World Is Crazy
You know, I haven’t talked about stuff going on the world in a long time. Honestly, it scares the shit out of me. It would be different if our borders were secure. If I knew we had tight defenses, checks, and in the case of Ebola, mandatory isolation if you’re sick coming off a plane (and every unfortunate soul who happens to be on the same flight as you), and some way to control entrance into this nation, I’d be much more willing to let the rest of the world sort its own shit out. But unfortunately, we have a weak and pathetic government and leadership so basically, I feel like we’re fucked. Whether it’s terrorists strolling into the country via the southern border, or the troops being sent to Iraq to “support” the Iraqis against ISIS, or the Ebola raging on a continent where they believe doctors are trying to kill them, well…..fucked.
But all of the above does not really affect my day-to-day life. That’s the thing. We all worry, but in the end, the only thing we can do is get up, go to work, elect a better government in November, and pray.
In my day-to-day doings, it’s interesting. I got a round-up from US Bank on why they would not consider me for other shit. Let’s see, they did not consider me “unemployed” although I was not working, collecting welfare, and actively seeking employment. Guess the feds cut off my unemployment benefits too soon, but then again, I could afford to make my mortgage while on unemployment. They wouldn’t consider the government program because my debt-to-income ratio was too high. That will happen when you are on welfare making less than $700/month. On and on. The list was actually pretty extensive, so in the end, the considered me for some sort of “streamline modification.” If that was “streamline,” other homeowners trying to get through that process are fucked. Just sayin’. Funny thing is they offered to reduce my payment by less than $40 but it got smaller anyway. I’m not sure if it is because of a smaller escrow need (USAA may have reduced my home owner’s insurance) or the property tax reduction kicked in by the time I started falling behind, but I’m paying about $10 less a month anyway. Think about that. They wanted me to trade all those years in interest for technically $30/month. Such hucksters and thieves.
Work is still keeping me on my toes. I get along with my proxy boss. I’d call him that, the director of operations, because I only see my real boss every 2 weeks for about 30-45 minutes for a little update, where she asks me repeatedly if I need anything from “them” to do my job better. Ummm, I’m pretty self-sufficient. Do you mean like do I need new pens and post-its? I know where to get those, thankyouverymuch. The DoO, I see and interact with him several times a day. He’s sort of funny and wry and at this point, he trusts my judgment, which is nice. Hell, last week, on whether we could even ship or bother to schedule trucks, he literally told me that he’s not going to look at production and I’m to handle all of that shit. I didn’t even find out if we were going to build or have product until Monday when I walked in the door. I rolled with it. haha
I’m hustling my ass off to find alternative work, stuff to do from home. I got hired to answer phones & take orders for a well known catalog company. I’ll be doing that M-F from 5:30pm to 10:30pm. I’m required to work 25 hrs a week with them, minimum. So basically, I’ll be clocking 65+ hrs a week. I’ve already put in 2 Saturdays at my “real” job this month, so I’m busting a hump trying to get my shit in order. By the way, if you were wondering, this is what distinguishes me from a Welfare Queen. I joked about being one, but I am more than willing to work 2 or 3 jobs to get back on my feet. It’s gonna suck hardcore, but hey, working doubly hard is better than not working, so I’m down with that. Some day soon, I hope to be on track financially after this hiccup in my life.
Big Monkey is learning that college is not all it’s cracked up to be. She somehow was under the impression that her peers there would be smart (I guess all that googling of rankings, average ACT and SAT scores, and acceptance rates gave her an inflated sense of what the freshman class would be like at college). She has now learned this is not remotely true and she is both disappointed and mad that she has to listen to these people talk in class. haha
I’m currently learning some new coding stuff which is pretty cool. It’s very similar to WordPress formatting, style files, logic, so yeah, I’m getting the hang of it.
Basically, don’t expect to see me much. I’m just buried in life. But hey, it’s better than being buried 6′ under, so I’ll take it. Ya’ll be cool and stay out of trouble.
September 9th, 2014
Hard Working Woman
So, first off, my house is saved, not through any sort of modification by US Bank, but because their offer was so fucking ridiculous, I bit the bullet and went to my parents and they dug me out of the hole.
So get this, since the beginning of March, I have been sending document after document, jumping through hoops for US Bank to get some sort of deference or forbearance until I can back on my feet. I was thinking they could put my payments on hold for a year, tack it onto the end, all the while, still earning interest. That is what I applied for.
They came back with a modification offer.
Based upon my welfare income of $653/month, they thought reducing my mortgage from $912 to $875 is well and good, I have to send the first check as a cashier’s check, oh, and they’ll add 17 years onto my mortgage, at the same interest rate. So for a measly $40/mo savings, I get to go from 23 years left to 40 years outstanding, at the same interest rate.
Did you get all of that?
My parents gave me a loan to cover what I am behind and I’m back on schedule.
I just had an interview for a 2nd job, working from home and taking orders for a well-known company. I aced the interview. I’ll be moving my desk and computer downstairs to the quiet basement if I get it. Fun times. LOVE moving huge ass furniture.
My full time job gives me fits. I am not fond of chaos and flying by the seat of your pants. I do it, I suck it up, I bust my ass to do it well. It still gives me heartburn. I literally had nightmares about it a few weeks ago, trying to slot shipments into our shipping schedule. It always bodes poorly when the director of operations either meets me at my car (which he’s done once) or tells me I shouldn’t have gotten out of my car to come in to work (which he’s done the last 2 days).
I’ve also famously made a carrier company owner so pissed off she’s taken to emailing the DoO and our customer’s logistics team. They all know she’s nuts so they’re ignoring her. haha
Big Monkey started college last week. She’s still waiting on 2 scholarships, which, when she gets them, only leaves her on the hook for a couple of hundred for tuition. She’ll be alright this year, I think.
Little Monkey is not so little. When I started this blog, he was a little over 2 years old. He’s now taller than I am. He’s smack dab in the middle of middle school (7th grade in a 6-8th school) and he towers over his classmates. He made it safely back from NYC, lugging a metric ass ton of candy from Hershey, PA and he and my mom are besties. It’s a bizarre relationship, him being a boy and now the Be-All of Asian families. She calls him for advice on Candy Crush. I just stay out of it. haha
I see all the crazy in the world now. I’m pretty scared that Thursday will be another terrifying day for my family, especially with my parents still in NYC. It’s strange to see myself at that age again. I was still married, I rode my bike (it’s still out of commission, I can’t afford the repairs), and it seems like a lifetime ago. But I still remember the horror of 9/11 and also the wonderful community our nation felt in the face of unified danger. Nowadays, I see idiots like Wil Wheaton talk about how the Republicans are making ISIS scarier than they are for election reasons and I weep for the stupidity of the majority of our country.
And that about covers my tiny bit of the world and my corner of the blogosphere.
Ya’ll stay frosty.
August 8th, 2014
Over 2 Months Later
So updatey goodness.
First off, I think I’m getting a handle on my new job. It’s a weird combo of logistics and cost/inventory analyst. Today, I did my first inventory analysis, chased down an item that was miscounted, saved my company a $537 write-off. Not bad. The logistics part has me in a dither. I buy donuts, I bounce my tits while I walk, and basically, I try to keep all the men (forklift drivers and truck drivers) I work with very happy. I don’t care what the feminists think, I will use all the powers available to me to keep the men from losing their shit.
Little Monkey is in NYC. He’s gone to the Met, he’s visited West Point, he’s ridden the PATH to Hoboken to see Carlos’ Bakery, the home of his hero, the Cake Boss. I miss him terribly. He comes home Wednesday, thank goodness. My mom is making me crazy with the phone calls. She took about 10 days to ask what he likes to eat. It’s funny, but she used to bust my balls about about feeding the child chicken nuggets. Those were his fave when he was a toddler/early Elementary. She’s made him 3 boxes of mac and cheese. Seriously? I finally gave a general list of what he likes. Here’s a clue…he will eat a metric ass ton of “American foods.” Chili dogs. Cheese pizza. Pork chops. Fetuccine Alfredo (ok, that’s Italian), and anything “not weird.” She asked how to make grilled cheese sandwiches. Really?
Big Monkey is working and trying to save money to go to college. She’s starting in the fall and I fear she will fall drastically short of the $5,500 she needs to make to cover tuition, commuting costs, books, etc for this year. That’s how much she is short, as calculated by the Budget Conscious Math Major. We shall see if she drops out in her junior year.
Basically, life is weirdly normal, now that I’m working again. I’m angling towards a higher paying, more commuter friendly position, but until now, I’m paying all of my bills except my mortgage.
That right there is a whole ‘nother story. This week, they asked for my divorce documents from 7.5 years ago. I luckily remembered the public documents available online and sent those instead of the gory details of insurance, custody, child support, etc. They sent docs to my ex (registered, at my address), even though we’ve been divorce a week or two after I closed on my refi in my own name to release his VA cert. They did not have any record of the quit claim. I suspect it is on US Bank’s part, not USAA’s, when they sold the mortgage to the shit-eating assholes at US Bank. Whatever.
That’s my life.
Working. Mothering. Trying to keep my home.
May 27th, 2014
Memorial Day Acknowledged
I did most of my memorializing on FB. I sent out private emails to the two Gold Star families which are in my heart and I think about them all the time. SPC Brad Beard and PFC Robert Dembowski will never be forgotten.
I had a long weekend, not just an extra day to it.
My Saturday was buried neck deep in a brake job that started as replacing rotors and pads which entailed rotors, pads, new clips, and a new caliper. Four trips to the parts store. Six hours. Busted knuckles and bleeding the brakes twice because the caliper was not tightened properly and I lost pressure on a test drive down the block. Glad I was only going like 5mph when that happened. I am pretty sure all is well now because I’ve gone to the gas station and store and not had any issues. But one of my brake pads is not seated properly or something. I can hear it rubbing on the rotor. I’m hoping with the long drive to work, it will settle itself where it needs to be.
After that marathon of tugging, wrenching, lifting and all the other crap associated with the brake job, I woke up exhausted, beat up, and physically sore yesterday. Which made me whiny but I’m grateful I woke up at all, so I couldn’t bitch too much on Memorial Day. Kids came back early from dad’s house and we had burgers and brats.
I did not sleep well last night and I was up before 4am today. Gonna be a long day at work, but again, it’s work and I can’t bitch too much about being tired there. I’ll get paid which is a better state of life than the previous 12 months.
I read a couple of news articles with amusement this morning. Unions were the biggest rah-rah groups out there when it came down to ObamaCare. Most likely this was attributed to their firm belief that the President would cover their asses on the fines on Cadillac Plans and also on shaming and/or forcing business to eat the costs. Well, it’s all coming home to roost now. We’ll see how it all shakes out, but I suspect the union-friendly NLRB will be called in at some point to tell the business owners to suck it up.
The other one is another Big Government problem. We (those of us who understand how government can NEVER fix problems) saw this coming. Hell, my own governor at least turned down expanding the Medicaid program as it is, but that does not mean there isn’t an extra burden in general. The Democrats are mandating this country into hell.
Well, I better get my shit together and get ready for work. Ya’ll have a nice Tuesday.
May 21st, 2014
Optimistic
I just completed Day 3 of work and I feel pretty good about things.
I was thrown off by the first day. They were not…organized. My new boss, who is a woman, she did not have any training plan in place at all. I found out from my trainer that she was supposed to be part of the interview process to help find someone suitable for the position but was just informed straight up that I’d been hired and I was sort of dumped in her lap.
Luckily, she is badass, smart, competent, and no-nonsense. I was really taken aback at what a major part of my duties will be. I’m actually outbound shipping for a major company who subcontracts us. Doing shipping was not even remotely on my radar for this job, BUT it works out GREAT. I’m at the ass-end of the plant, I work with 4 forklift operators, and any incoming truck drivers. Can you say, “No female back-stabbing drama?” I knew you could. Straight-forward men, they tell you where you fucked up, you correct yourself, life goes on. Love it!
There will be a lot of additional duties having to do with the part I thought I was doing, which is a pretty significant and busy role, so we’ll see how I balance it all out in the end.
I’m earning a paycheck.
I am damn happy, and even more because my trainer put in 2.5 days and trusted me enough to leave me completely unattended and unsupervised, doing my job, while she went to a 2 hour meeting with our customer. When she came back, she said, “I think you’ll do just fine in this job.” Good, that’s what I was aiming for. Quick-learning and competence.
Alrighty, I have a long commute and leave the house at 6:30am, so after a long ass awards ceremony for Big Monkey, I’m gonna relax with the end of my evening and crash.
Ya’ll be cool!!
May 15th, 2014
The Ridiculous and Sublime
I don’t think I’ve posted a music video in forever, but man, I laughed out loud at this. Deep in my heart, I’m a cracker so this is the song of my peoples. haha
I would have expected way more firearms in this video except that I suspect some of these good ol’ boys may have felonious records which prohibit such activities. But I have personally witnessed moving vehicles and beers being passed back and forth. Like I said on Facebook, one reason rednecks have so many babies so young is because they tend to be a self-sanitizing gene pool with stupid stunts like in the video.
About Me
Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem
By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty
I am a loopy libertarian who pisses off easily, loves hard, and tries
to keep the voices in my head from taking over. I love my country and
my military so if you "go there" and say anything nasty about either,
you are so banned. I've warned you.
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