Today's Political/Health Swirl

NOTE: For some reason, the link below doesn't seem to be working. Go to www.sfgate.com, and go to Dr. Gurley's blog. The link is for the item she wrote on 11/19/2009 (I believe), about the issue.

About the current hoo-hah over that advisory panel's recommendations on breast cancer screenings. One of the headlines in todays online press avers that the panel is taken aback by all the swirling & heated "discussions". So, on which asteroid did they find these people? A couple of days ago, on NPR, I heard two doct...ors: one was from (I think) the Am Cancer Society and the other was on the task force; you can tell that the latter had NO F'ING CLUE that there would be an issue. Not confidence-inspiring. Anyway, I'm pasting a link to a good analysis on the issue. Read it. Talk about this with your family and friends, AND YOUR DOCTOR. And it wouldn't hurt to natter at your Congressional representatives and senators, too (Federal level). The whole health care system in this country needs an overhaul, for a plethora of reasons. YOU are the government: get involved and let those yahoos in D.C. know what you think. Just sayin' . . .

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/gurley/detail?blogid=114&entry_id=51917

Politics... feh! (Yeah, and I'm talking to you, Carly F!!!)

I am getting pretty darn irritated with politics. Nothing new, of course, as I've felt this way for several years. But, lately, I find myself with a pounding head after watching TV, reading the newspaper, reading "Newsweek", or cruising the Web...

What's whipping me up? Let me count the ways...

The scary partisanship I see growing in this country. If you pay attention to what's happened/is happening in other countries (huge hoo-hahs over really trivial or superficial) (OK, trivial and superficial to me), one would think that it would be in all our best interests -- the entire country, is what I'm referring to -- NOT to descend into this bilateral division. Republic vs. Democrat -- to me, it's like Sunni v. Shia (don't jump all over me, please), or Catholic v. Protestant (thank you Northern Ireland), Tutsi v. Hutu, Sureno v. Norteno, whatever v. whatever... We have far more in common than we have different. Grrr...

The blatant twisting of the facts to fit your "side", usually delivered with a firm jaw, really good hair, false sincerity around the eyes, and a tad of OUTRAGE just for spice. Ridiculous. My profession and my training may help me to see things a tad more even-handedly, even as I can advocate for a particular side. The evil twin of this issue is "forgetting" certain past occurrences which perhaps had an impact or effect on a current situation... Like, the fact that the greatly beloved (and seriously idiotic) (IMHO) Ronald Regan's "birth" of massive deficits, which continue to plague us to this day.

The way certain fringe elements (yeah, OK, I am referring to the TEA Party nutcases) wrap themselves in the flag -- literally as well as figuratively -- and use words like "freedom" and "liberty", in an effort, perhaps, to infer that the "other side" is just not patriotic. This just whips me up beyond all belief.

The failure to make the connection between our rights as citizens and our obligations as citizens. And, the failure to recognize that the world has changed since our country was founded... It's a whole lot more complicated, many many MANY more people, and you just can't sit out in the forest with your gun and believe you can handle everything life might throw at you. And, add to that the fact (yes, sorry, it is a fact) that our world is far more integrated ("smaller", some might say) and globalization (I hate that word) is here and is influencing how we live. (This is normally where I start foaming at the mouth about the "No New Taxes!" crew... Who, exactly, do they think is going to pop out of the shrubbery and take care of the roads, the defense of our country, interstate commerce, many business, etc., etc.? The Infrastructure Bunny? Jeez...)

[Let me segue here to the castle/peasants/Vikings thing I have talked about for years... That is, when dealing with our friends in Europe, and to some extent in other parts of the world, we need to realize that they have a long and honorable heritage of depending on the central government (the local lord's castle, perhaps?) for succor and help in times of peril (e.g., the Vikings)... We never had that in the good old US of A... We just washed up on these shores, and promptly killed whoever was here first, and then turned around and headed for the horizon, where there was plenty of room to act out and pretend that we didn't need any darn government (i.e., king or whatever)...] [Of course, many of these nutcases out there don't seem to grasp that WE are the government in this country... Didn't they pay attention in social studies class?]

And, now, we have, here in California, two women -- Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman -- running for public office. As a genuine 1970s feminist, I would love to be able to support them. But these two really should go find a couple of start-up companies in Silicon Valley to ruin . . . er, to run . . . and stay the hell out of politics. I mean, neither of them even voted on any kind of consistent basis... (Yes, I know, many people don't vote regularly, or at all -- don't EVEN get me started on THAT one...) Carly just said yes she apologized, but after all for years she didn't think her vote counted. Well, I can tell you for sure that a vote not cast does not count. Duh. And this woman rose through the ranks to become a CEO? Jeez... Of course, I've spent enough time in corporate America to know that competence and common sense (and any kind of integrity) are certainly not needed to rise through the ranks, if you get my drift.

And, Carly, you certainly do know about creating jobs . . . in Asia, where all the jobs went when you hacked away at HP here in the US! Your supremely disingenuous statement that it was necessary to cut expenses in hard times makes me gag. Your policies savaged the R&D and engineering ranks here in the Silicon Valley, because you knew you could take advantage of cheaper salaries in the developing Asian markets. Yes, you could, and you saved money, but at what cost? It was recognized corporate strategy, but was it right? Was there no other way? And, of course, all the time you were drawing down some ridiculously inflated salary. And your M&A activity? What was that about? Did you really honestly think it was necessary to create a sustainable business? Really? Or were you just playing the "measuring" game (and you know what I'm talking about).

And, finally, Carly, you sure do know something about taking care of people -- yep, that $21,000,000 walk-away package you got really showed how you took care of yourself. After firing/laying off/getting rid of/restructuring thousands of folks here, it takes one heck of a lot of chutzpah -- and no discernable morality that I can see -- to insist on, and accept, that package. I personally am having a hard time looking at you on TV and feeling anything except disgust.

And don't even play the breast cancer card. Just don't. You are too smart for that.

In fact, I think you'd be really really good at charity fund-raising. It's needed and it will serve society. Oh, and I really think it would be even better if you started educating yourself on current issues and -- yeah -- voting. In every damn election. It's free to vote, you know. And you can do it by mail, in case you don't want to mingle with the peasants. . . er, the unemployed . . . you know, us folks who got reorg'd out or whatever, and didn't get any damn $21Million bye-bye present. Just, please, don't blow smoke up our butt about how "macha" you are and how you're going to "make government smaller" (you do realize, don't you, that you cannot outsource government to Malaysia, like you did for many functions at HP, yes?), blah blah blah... You may be a government "outsider", but many of us have heard it all before. Sounded hollow then, sounds worse now.

Just sayin'

Cognitive Dissonance

Episode One: In the airport shuttle, going back to the South Bay after two weeks in England... What's with this warm weather and the bright sun? And why are we on the wrong side of the road? And why are all the cars so BIG?

Episode Two: In front of the market this afternoon. There are Halloween pumpkins and a huge display of pineapples. Somehow doesn't seem right to me.

Conclusion: Jet lag does funny things to my mind!

Saturday Night...

... and all is well (I think). Good dinner (thank goodness for pre-cooked, microwaveable pot roast), first Cal football game is on TV, the kittens are "helping" me with my latest sewing project (the first in months and months and months) (maybe the depression is lifting), it's not beastly hot, and I'm just kind of floating.

I did have milk and cookies (yes, really) at 5PM with The Spouse (our ritual), but pretty immediately followed up with a very lovely Cosmo. I figure the milk and the graham crackers coated my stomach. And a nice glass of Pinot Grigio with dinner. Yum. Maybe I'll get some energy and m-wave some dessert for the old man... What the heck...

Got a fair amount accomplished today, thanks be. Washed the bed linens (where the kittens have been nesting -- ergo my itchy eyes), went to the bank, the post office, the market, the hardware store, and the fabric store. Shredded stupid old papers that just made me sad (filled up a lawn and leaf trash bag with THAT crap), and that's a weight off my soul.

I am having good luck with the exercises my dentist gave me for my rather painful TMJ issues. Now, when I do it, pressing gently on my jaw, it tends to click back into its proper position. Amazing how that eases the pain! But, I have a feeling it'll be a long haul. The dentist said it's all probably due to "rolling tension"... ??? (As in, "If it's not one thing, it's another"???) Oh, well... If this doesn't work, there is Plan B... More exercises and maybe some Valium at night, to reduce the spasm in the muscle that's causing everything to move out of its proper position.

Well, I feel that I should be opining on the great issues of the day, but I'm too tired to get into it. There are some pretty good back-and-forth discussions on Facebook, though, which are fascinating. A good diversity of opinion, and a bunch of stuff I don't necessarily agree with. But, so far, pretty civil... Amazing!

And, speaking of civil (or not), what about that guy who got his finger (well, the tip of his finger) bitten off at a health care demonstration? What in the world was THAT all about??? Sounds like a nursery school run amok! Jeez...

Well, Boston (the black kitten) is now laying down square in the middle of my cutting board, and attempting to loll on the cut-out pieces for the shoe bags. Silky, slithery satin -- I can't blame her!

OK, it's probably a good time to take a break and go do some knitting and make the dessert. Bad idea to cut and/or sew when one is tired, and after one has consumed both a Cosmo and a glass of wine. :-)

Hope all of you are having a restful and thoughtful (and safe) Labor Day weekend. Remember, without the organized labor movement, and a confluence of other factors, this holiday (and, by the way, the two-day weekend itself) would not exist. (If it didn't, how would we know when to stop wearing white shoes?)

Cheers!

As Dorothy Said...

It's true, there is no place like home (for better or worse). The Spouse and I just got back from a week in Eugene, Oregon -- we were there to work on a rental property we own. It needed some things done (not huge, but lots of little stuff), and I have not been pleased with the quality or the pricing for work performed by the property management company. When I was quoted $1,300 for installing a ceiling ventilation fan in the master bathroom, I rebelled. One thing led to another and, before you know it, we (The Spouse and I) decided that we could do all the work needed, and it would be done right. (The bathroom ceiling in the house looked like some bizarre cave with mineral deposits hanging down from it... don't ask...)

So, we packed the SUV to the brim with every bit of stuff we figured we'd need, had three ladders strapped to the top, and off we went. We even shlepped a TV with us (!), for entertainment. Yes, including a digital converter box and rabbit ears (antenna). It's a lovely drive up Highway 5 through Northern California and Southern Oregon, and the weather was fine, thank goodness. We left in the afternoon, stayed overnight in Yreka, and rolled into Eugene in time to get a fair amount of work done on Day One.

Long story short, we worked our collective butts off! Our lovely daughter drove down from Portland, to help out. She's such a treasure! We scraped, patched, sanded, primed and painted all over the darn place. The Spouse worked on swapping out all the electrical outlets (which were quite ancient), poked about in the dark, dank, and junk-filled basement (a delightful experience), and worked himself up into a swivet about all the things that really do need to be done to the house. It's an older house, built (I think) in the 1940s or late 1930s, and needs a fair amount of TLC to bring it up to date. But it has good lines, and a solid design, and a lovely "feel" about it. Some strange things have been done to it over the years, but nothing that couldn't be fixed with a moderate investment of time and money.

We enjoy Eugene, and are toying with the idea of moving there... It would kill us to leave the SF Bay Area, but Eugene is not a bad alternate. It's close to Portland (which is a GREAT city), an hour from the ocean, a few hours from the snow/mountains, a college town, not too big (and not too small), and cheaper than where we live now in the Silicon Valley. We would miss all the friends we've made here, terribly, but the folks in Eugene are quite friendly, too.

The worst thing about being away for a week was that we missed The Kittens terribly! My former secretary was kind enough to come by and look after things, so my mind was at ease. But, when we got home, The Kittens went berserk! In fact, they jumped around on top of us all night! (The next night, we did kick them out of the bedroom...)

I've made it through all the dirty laundry we dragged back with us, sorted out the stuff we hauled up and back, cleaned the kitchen, went grocery shopping, and things are generally settled down again.

The thing that made a big impression on me was living a week with: no cable/satellite TV (just good old broadcast), no microwave (aaaccck!), and no Internet access. What spoiled babies we are... Luckily, I grew up in the "old days", so I know how to boil water for tea, and how to occupy my hands at night, when it was too dark to work on the various chores. (It really did feel a tad like "Little House on the Prairie"...) But, we survived. Duh, of course we did!

So, that's the most exciting thing we've done recently. I am grateful to be home, safe, in a great area. I am thankful that we are not close to any of the horrible fires that are ravaging California right now, and that my cats are healthy and didn't commit any irremediable offenses while we were gone...

I wish all the best to all of you, too. Cheers!

Why is tennis like long division?

I don't know, why... Because it's learning a new and seemingly difficult and impenetrable skill for me, and I'm reacting just like I did in fifth grade... badly! I'm sulking, occasionally get teary-eyed, and sometimes stomp off the court and sit down in a foul humor. However, thus far I have not cheated (as I did on one test in fifth grade and famously got totally busted by the teacher).

Of course, now, long division is as easy as breathing for me. You just take it step by step, remember the basics (i.e., basic math), and it all turns out beautifully. I do it by hand often (i.e., no calculator), and it's just fine -- sometimes I do it in my head. I forget, of course, all the pain and suffering and bitching and moaning it took to get me here...

When I am on the court, practicing on my basic shots (forehand and backhand), I go through my checklist (in my head): where is my arm, what is my body posture, what is the orientation of the racquet, where in the trajectory of the ball ought I hit it, etc., etc. And, still, I often end up hitting the ball with the rim of the racquet, or otherwise just screwing it up. Blast! But, there are a lot more good shots coming out of me these days than in prior months. So, I guess that's progress. But I am still way too hard on myself... Really, I must stop that.

I love this blog. It's like a diary, but I feel some sort of odd obligation to write things for this -- with a diary, I say, "Oh, I'll do it later"... Not that anyone reads this, but I fancy that occasionally someone does. I hope it's good friends, who will (generously) listen to me blather on about things.

OK, I'm off to attempt to get some chores done. Ha! (Something is going on with me -- I'm totally exhausted all the time, and get tired way too easily. The doctor -- who ran every test in the world on me -- says there's nothing wrong. Humpf. What do they know...)

Everyone out there, be good to yourselves!

Nothing, Zip, Nada...

... And, sometimes, that's the way it needs to be! Just kicking back all day, futzing around, doing chores, and basically bouncing along. OK, I did get totally whipped up today due to (1) reading the Sunday papers, (2) cruising the 'Net and reading the news, (3) listening to the Sunday news shows, and (4) listening to NPR stories. The country is so f'd up, on so many issues, I can't stand it. Now, don't get me wrong, I adore the Prez, and so glad he's in office, you have no idea. But, how can he possibly deal with the MESS that the bozo brigade (W and his cronies, in case you've been living in a cave) left oozing on the floor.

Ah, don't get me started. The Spouse and I went out for pizza tonight -- could have knocked me over with a feather when HE suggested it. I ate myself into a stupor, of course, and am not regretting it. I shall have to be moderate in my eating this whole week to pay for my indulgences today. Well, too bad... It was worth it...

Other than that, the kittens are being as cute as ever, I'm starting to nod off, and The Spouse is -- again -- looking at who knows what on EBay... I only hope it doesn't cost us money.

I'm sure I'll be far more witty tomorrow. Or not.