Take Me Back To 1966

I was so in love with Steve of The Left Banke...

I wonder what he is doing today?

I have read somewhere that he did not really care for the song Walk Away Renee...

The music of The Left Banke was classified as "Baroque-Pop"

Those big eyes and bangs and tight pants were surely cute back in the day...

When I listen to Walk Away Renee I am 12 again...I had my very own Steve at that age...well, actually a Stephen. Stephen and I went to Junior High School together, and were great friends. Unfortunately we would attend different high schools, and I would never see him again. I found out last summer that my Stephen had died in a car accident a few years after high school graduation. Over the years I had tried to find him, as he had a very unique last name I thought it would be easy to make contact. Even now, after all these years, I think of my Stephen, and a few tears will slip down the side of my face.

I'm not really sure that I would want to go back to 1966, but I do like spending a little time there, in my mind with the music...and with my Stephen who is forever young and alive in my memories.

I Hate Cancer

A very dear and special friend is battling that damned disease. I don't even want to write the name of it, give it any power, acknowledge it...because I hate it.

Dub, my father-in-law had it and I was there with him during his final days.

My mom's baby sister had it.

My mom's oldest sister had it.

A cousin had it.

My friend Eileen had it...she was not even 50 when she died.

A dear Great Aunt had it...

I hate it...

In these days of octomom, botox and viagra and all sorts of seemingly unimportant (in the grand scheme of things) in the way medical miracles and advances why don't we have a better way of diagnosing and treating it...?

My friend that is currently battling this damned disease spent weeks getting chemo only to find that it didn't work because she was resistant to the platinum in the chemo...duh and damn...shouldn't there be a test to see if that might be the case before subjecting someone to weeks of poison for nothing?

I hate it...and I want better research...I want better screening procedures...I want health care to be more affordable...I want a cure...and right now I want a miracle for my friend...I want her healed...I want her free of it...

The picture of the llama is for my friend...she and I used to talk about how we wanted llamas for pets...I have recently found out that Alpacas are nicer than llamas...when a miracle happens for my friend...I am going to find a way to get her either a llama or an alpaca...

http://www.womenscancerfoundation.com/home.htm

Honey

Honey is our precious Cocker Spaniel. She is currently in hospital as she had her gall bladder removed today.

She was scheduled to have her teeth cleaned last week, but a few behaviors prompted us to consult with the Vet as she had, for the first time ever, turned down food. After having a plethora of tests it was discovered that she had elevated liver enzymes, a cyst on a kidney and a suspect gall bladder. Our local Vet referred us to specialists that are in Atlanta. It is paining us that she is so far away, but hopefully she will be released Thursday and will be back home so we can care for her in the manner to which she is accustomed.

The surgeon said that the bile had solidified, and was surprised that she had so few symptoms and seemed so happy and sweet. That's just the way Honey is, happy and sweet...an angel in a dog suit.

Treat your doggees and kitties well. They give us so much and are here for such a short time.

My Life Nocturnal

I'm in to my second month of working at night. I leave home around 6:45 pm and usually get back home around 7:00 am. I am in a state of perpetual exhaustion, and have taken on that weird vampire-type pallor as I rarely am out in the sunlight. My work schedule constantly changes, the facility is open seven days a week, I often work four nights in a row. It is very difficult to get people to work the hours and the job. The only requirement is high school or GED. They really don't want intelligent people, they just want nice little compliant, no questions asked, trainable button pushing monkeys. No disrespect to monkeys.

This job has taken my life, it is now my life, as I have not been able to find a balance. I have pots of dead fall mums on the front porch. There are dead summer ferns still hanging in baskets, and I am unable to relate the present condition of my little gardens. My gardening was once very important to me. I am mourning the loss of that part of my life.

I have somehow managed to tend to my sister and the dog. The house is very untidy, but I manage to keep up with the big clumps, do the laundry. I keep the bathroom and kitchen sink clean. Mom is not now nor ever has been "in" to cleaning, that has always been my job.

This sleep technician job is really terrible. The hours, the inept and profit-driven management, the poorly trained staff ( and that includes me) the number of seriously ill people and patients that have no reason to be tested other than their doctors have managed to get around the insurance question by using the magic words "sleep apnea" translate into a genuine recipe for disaster.

I now believe that sleep testing has become the dumping ground for patients whose doctors know that their insurance will pay for the testing and for those patients whose doctors have no idea what to do with them. I think there is a system of kickbacks for referrals, although I have no idea how to go about proving such an accusation.

Almost every person that comes in for testing, will receive a variation of the same diagnosis as well as the same treatment. Sleep apnea is the diagnosis and CPAP is the treatment. Caveat emptor.

Another problem I have are the patients that come in with MRSA. I have been exposed at least three times that I know of, and the facility is not using the proper precautions or clean-up procedures. I am the only person that appears to be concerned about the situation.

I have always been a proponent of capitalism and free enterprise. I am changing my view when it comes to medicine and health care in the United States. From the fraud and abuse I have seen, I am beginning to think that we may be better served and protected if we make a total change in the system. With all the legislation in place, we are still not being protected from the graft, fraud and greed that is inherent in the present system. A complete overhaul is needed, its broken and the band aids that have been applied only get dirty and fall off.

The only good thing about this job, is I no longer have to visit the "Bank of Mom."

Fair Winds and Following Seas CVN 77

"Wings of Gold" worn by Naval Aviators. Aren't they beautiful!

As I come from a Navy family, and more specifically, family connected to Naval Aviation, I want to welcome our newest carrier, CVN 77, the George Herbert Walker Bush to the fleet!

Visit this link to learn more about CVN 77

http://www.nn.northropgrumman.com/bush/index.html

I love this poem...it so captures the feeling, the spiritual nature of flying...

High Flight
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there, I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air. . . .
Up, up the long, delirious burning blue I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace Where never lark, or ever eagle flew —And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod The high untrespassed sanctity of space,Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
— John Gillespie Magee, Jr

May G-d Bless the George Herbert Walker Bush, her crew, the United States Navy and The United States of America!

No more teaching for me

Well, its official...I've given up on trying to teach again...after 5 long, exhaustive, arduous years of trying to get back into teaching...only to be thwarted and shot down left and right by the bureaucratic powers that be...I have a totally new job!

On Monday I will start training to be a Sleep Technician...who says old dogs can't learn new tricks?

In this horrid economy and the total weirdness of this little town, I know I am blessed beyond belief to be able to snag this job.

One thing about the teaching though...is that I was really good at it...won awards, and things like that...had great praise from students and parents alike...but I never could seem to understand most of the administration types that controlled the schools. Now, my first principal was brilliant...he was absolutely fabulous...but I left that school to take another position in my academic field. The next principals were all ridiculous. If people want to look into what is wrong with a goodly lot of our schools, take a long hard look at the administrators.

Ok, I got that off my chest, and I hopefully can bury that and move on to the next phase of my life.

One more little thing, I've been frequenting a web site for teachers for almost 12 years now. I made friendships and was mentored and nurtured by many wonderful teachers I met there. But, for several years now, there have been these people that visit that really have some hatred for teachers and take pot shots at (us) any chance they get. There are also these holier-than-thou know-it-alls that come in and attempt to discredit all teachers because they don't measure up to some weird, contorted view they've created of themselves.

I don't understand people that are so judgmental, so narrow in their view, and have such poor comprehension skills that they fail to understand or at least acknowledge the point or message that is being expressed. They get so frothed up with their own opinion and self-importance and are so ego-bound that there is no way to have an exchange of thoughts or ideas with them. Know anyone like that?

I will try to put all that teacher stuff behind me and move into a more technologically advanced and scientific world...what an adventure!

Mama Africa is gone...

Miriam Makeba recently died. She was known to many as Mama Africa. Her music was electric, sacred, beautiful...I first heard her Pata Pata song when I was around 12...that song was my entry into South Africa and the political and human situations that were too long endured there...Rest In Peace Mama Africa.

http://www.miriammakeba.co.za/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/nov/11/miriam-makeba-obituary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pygqt0uwnuc&feature=related