When I get old.

     I spend a good time working from Starbucks because I don't have a permanent office and I like to get out of the house every morning. Kind of like going to an office.  I have a good deal of time to watch things that go on around me.  I have watched an elderly man and his caretaker for the last year and half.  We have had some conversations.  The elderly man suffers from dementia and he rarely remembers what happens from one day to another.  He carries around a notebook on a string around his neck and he keeps notes that he thinks are important to him.  His caretaker keeps him engaged quite well.  They look out the window and count the airplanes that come by, or try and find shapes in the clouds or sometimes play simple card games.  The old guy rarely talks.  Very simple sentences.  Recently his caretaker has changed.  He has been on some kind of rotation with three different caretakers.  I have to say they suck.  One listens to her headphones and never speaks to him at all.  One orders him around and talks to him like his is deaf and dumb, and I think one of them is totally taking advantage of him because she always orders coffee, a breakfast sandwich, and usually yogurt or a lunch sandwich.  He used to come every day.  The original caretaker was very good to him.  He was respectful to the fact that even though he is somewhat incapacitated, he treated him with the respect that you would treat an elder.  I used to see him at the same time every day.  He was on a strict schedule.  Recently he is there at random times if at all.  Of course he looks none the worse for the wear and truthfully this is none of my business, but it sure got me to thinking about the state of elder health care in America and just how quickly it is getting out of hand.

     When Mark got sick and passed away.  I had the luxury of boarding the horses at a fantastic facility so I knew that they were taken care of and I had a loyal customer base that waited patiently for me to work through the situation.  Had I not been able to take care of him, I would have had to hire it done and insurance only paid $2000.00/month.  We had some supplemental policies but the bottom line is with the emergency room and hospital stays and the Doctor bills, that was just a drop in the bucket.  When the time came to switch to hospice care that was basically free except that they weren't there full time. So I still had to be there.  Also he was a big guy so technically if I hadn't been there to take care of him.  We would have had to rent hospital beds, portable potties, wheel chairs etc.  I was very fortunate to be able to drop everything and take up the slack.  Family was not an option, not because he didn't have a large family, because they weren't equipped to handle the situation.  For many families dropping everything, taking a leave from work, especially if it is a long drawn out illness is not an option.  I am sure that the situation with the V.A. is just as bleak or bleaker.  I have looked through the classifieds and there are plenty of employment opportunities for caretakers, Unfortunately the pay is usually $10.00/hour or less.  Seems like pennies when you compare it with the amount that was spent on us while getting us raised and sent off into the world as responsible adults.

     Maybe I am worrying about this because truthfully I've gotten to at least half way in my life and I've started to recognize things that I am going to need to worry about in my advanced age.  With the elected officials fighting about shit that makes no sense for the country I don't see them coming up with anything that will help either.  Lets hope by the time we all get there we have plenty of quality paid well employees to take care of us.

My View on the current state of America

     I honestly believe that we live in the best country in the world.  If it's not it used to be and it can be again.  Following are a few observations that I have made and would like to expand on.

     I have heard several people lately say that "we need to put religion back in government".  Well frankly folks.  We may have had some elected officials who were devoutly religious, but our government was never based on religion.  Actually most of our forefathers came here because they were looking for religious freedom, not because they wanted to be governed by religion.  I am pretty sure that we couldn't get two out of three religions in America to agree on 10 items on the same page.
     I read that some far right wing legislator has introduced wording in a bill that would require a woman, including one who was raped, to have to get the mans permission before she could have an abortion.  Here we go again with the right wing Republicans pissing on a woman's right to do what she wants with her own body.  We don't have to like abortions. They exist.  Fact of life.  A woman's body belongs to her and nobody else.  I know one thing.  My mother is as far right wing as they come and I can guarantee that hell would freeze over before she would ever ask anybody for permission to do what she wants with her body.

     In all this discussion and protesting about innocent black men getting shot nobody is digesting the truth.  The media feeds the ignorance.  What I don't understand is why nobody sees that while they think the Republicans are working for a police state.  The more respect that we take away from the police, the more power we give to the government as a whole.  and that is a bad thing.  The other thing that I don't understand is all the Talk from Al Sharpton and the rest of the race baiters is putting blame on the police and not one of the "innocent black men" is taking responsibility for their own actions.  I want to know why Al Sharpton is not protesting black on black violence in Chicago where gang violence kills more blacks in a month than the total of all the police departments in America do in a year.  Why are they not marching and protesting the lack of responsibility taken by black fathers for their children in America.  Why are they not marching because black kids don't stay in school and get the education that they deserve.  All he screams for is more money, more programs, more racial tension.  The joke is his very existence is paid for by white liberals and government programs because lord knows the blacks don't do anything to help themselves and they don't have the money to fund his extravagances.

     Frankly I am tired of feeling like my rights are being assaulted by the people that we have elected to govern this country.

My background

     I've decided to start blogging again.  I've had a few people request that I start blogging again and this time instead of blogging on random things that peak my interest with no clear direction, I am going to follow a train of thought for as long as I can keep it interesting.  You may also notice that I have changed the name of the blog.  The current name is more of a reflection on how my current mind is operating.

     Since this blog is going to follow a train of thought, I am going to spend some time on my background so you may have some idea of how and why my mind works the way it does and how I have formed my opinions.

     I grew up in middle America.  Nebraska and Indiana, middle class parents that both worked there buts off.  I know we were never rich, but I never thought we were poor either.  I had great grandparents, I have one sister.  I started showing horses when I was 12 and turned it into a 35 year career.  I finally gave up when my body started to rebel too much for me to continue.  I graduated from Crete High School in Crete Nebraska and I attended the University of Nebraska Lincoln until I failed algebra three times and finally gave up on that.  It seems that I am dyslexic and it doesn't matter how many times I write down an equation I will never get it the same way twice.  I even had a tutor and teaching assistant ask the professor if he would pass me if I could just write down the formulas correctly.  He said no and that is when I decided college wasn't the right place for me.  It has taken me 30 years to regret that decision.  Not having that stupid piece of paper has turned out to be a major pain in the ass.

     As an adult I have had a really good life so far.  I've lived in Nebraska, Indiana, Oklahoma, Texas, California, and currently have landed in Arizona, so far I've like Arizona the best.  Makes me feel good.  I may have one move left in me, but if I stay here until the end I can be happy with that.  I have loved Arizona since the first time I came here and frankly after watching the man I thought I would spend the rest of my life with drink himself to death I came here to escape.  I've been fortunate enough to find somebody that wants to spend the rest of their life with me and I'm going to do my best to make sure that never changes.  I may be a slow learner, but I do learn.  I am fortunate enough to amateur club race a C5 Corvette, and enjoy it more than I ever thought I would.

     I have decided that if Rosy O'Donnell can express her view's on "The View" , It's time for me to start blogging again.  I may be mistaken, but I think I have something to say.  I have lived enough of life to know how to make an unbiased decision before I state my opinion.  I assure you, all of my opinions are just that.  Unbiased.

     So stay tuned for my opinions.  You may agree with them or not, I really don't care.  What I do care about is that you respect them because it's the United States and I'm allowed to have them.  I would prefer if you decided to comment on them you do it with and intelligent response and I would hope that you are smart enough to realize that I like respectful discussions about my opinions.

     Until the next time, and I assure you.  It's probably going to be a bumpy ride.