Not that I haven't wanted to write...
I haven't had the chance...we (the awesome hubby and I) went to NYC last weekend and have been playing catch-up ever since...
So the rant of the evening:
This
is what I'm ranting about.
A book introducing sexuality, sexual health, and information about STI's (Sexually Transmitted Infections) in cartoon-type illustrations of young people about sex.
Something that is "perfectly normal" and part of a "complete diet" of wellness. This, removed from the library of small town, rural America (where some people choose not to have TV's for the well being of their children)is my point of frustration.
When kids ask their parents about sex and where they came from(which they will do when the hormones start raging, and they begin to have feelings about the opposite (or same) sex), it's an appropriate book for parents to use as a reference point. It's on kid-level, so it's not using big medical terms, or pornography (which, by the way, is defined by Merriam-Webster as "material (as books or a photograph) that depicts erotic behavior and is intended to cause sexual excitement". This book is NOT intended to cause sexual excitement, rather, to educate our kids about it when it happens.
The thing about our country is we have freedom of speech and to practice our own religion, as well as to protest what we think is wrong. This woman is entitled to expressing her opinion, where she feels this book may have a negative effect on the children of today's society, and may be religiously amoral. If she feels it is a bad book, she has the right to choose not to purchase it, or show it to children she knows and feels are to young to read it.
However, she does not have the right to prevent other people from buying, reading, or signing this book out of the library, which, by theft, she has done (although many kind-hearted, intelligent, generous people have donated the same book in it's place)
It's not the book that is the problem.
It's not the shows on television.
It's not the 'other' kids in school.
The problem is parents not being ready to be parents because they were too busy screwing in the back of the bus and made said kids that they didn't want in the first place.
So who's responsible? Teachers? 4-H leaders/girl scout/boy scout leaders? Other kids parents? no
It is the responsibility of parents to teach their OWN children what is right and what is wrong.
If kids don't get the answers(the whole answers) to the questions they are asking, they will find the answers elsewhere, even if it is from Billy, the "cool" kid who has 5 girls hanging from his arms, and more than that in STI's hanging below his belt.
And if teaching them about sex will prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, Syphilis, Gonorrhea, Chlamydia, Herpes, or whatever other creepy crawlies are scurrying through underpants, then so be it.
If teaching them about sex will prevent more unwanted kids in the world, then print all the books possible and give 'em out on street corners, because we don't need more unwanted kids.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Obesity
OK, so I work for a hospital.
I realize that there are many conditions for which people seek medical attention, one of which is obesity, and generally not capable of moving more than 10 feet without having a little red go kart tote them around.
I saw a blurb on the news that "by 2046, all Americans will be obese".
Whoa. Hold the Twinkies, the Ho-Ho's, and the Milkshakes.
Does that mean that the Atkin's diet, anorexic jackasses are going to be eliminated? Right, they will all have died as a result of clogged arteries and heart attacks. But at least they'll be easier to carry down the aisle to the altar in a pine box.
How about the professional athletes?
Laborers?
Marathoners?
Distance cyclists?
Well, that begs the question, what is "obese?"
Obesity is defined as being above your BMI, which is calculated by your height, weight and sex. MY weight should be no more than 170, max, to achieve a "normal" BMI. I haven't seen that since I had mono.
In another article, I read they are going to stop pushing the "BMI" or body mass index as a method of judging if a person is healthy, even though they may be considered overweight according to their BMI. Take someone who is active (may not get quite as much exercise as they would like, but still able to ride a bicycle for 2+ hours at 16 miles per hour), has "normal" blood pressure, "normal" lipid profile, and "normal" fasting blood sugar, but tips the scale a bit higher than the "average" person. They are told they are "overweight" and made to feel guilty, stress about what they eat, and attempt to change everything they do to try and fit into a cookie cutter image that the government would like to promote.
I went to see my doctor for my annual physical. Ok, I know that I'm NOT the posterchild for a bikini advertisement, unless they slicked up Baby Shamu and slid him in. I don't pretend to be. I try to wear clothes that are fashionable and moderately flattering, but I prefer BDU's and army boots, which are anything but.
However, my doctor looked at me and said, without gleaning any background info about what I eat, do for exercise, etc, that "You should consider joining Weight Watchers...Not that we endorse them or anything, but we've had patients that were successful at weight loss."
******WHAM*******
Unsolicited, blatant, telling me that I'm a porker (thanks, as if I didn't know that already, you jackass. I needed another blow to my ego...don't worry, it will bounce off the blubber), and need to start running on the treadmill. I hate running. My boobs hit me in the face, and I get more workout in my chest than my legs, unless i duct tape and saran wrap them in one place. Instead of "advising me" to join some shitty, dehydrated, chemical flavored, mail order food company, that I can't afford, why don't you do a little research? Barriers to prevention? (Cost, I like the food I eat (homecooked, mostly organic, thank you), need new sneakers (that I can't afford right now), can't do push ups because my wrist hurts and if you'd give me two fucking seconds to take a breath you might actually hear that, my back is giving me crap, and add to the fact that you were just a complete ass? Take your suggestion, shove it sideways where the monkey stuffed the nut, and go find a class on compassion, you useless, arrogant, deaf, waste of a copay and my insurance dollars. Go write more on your precious journal.
In some ways, I applaud the Dove commercials that are trying to promote a young woman's self image, but produced by a company that tries to sell firming creams and help women keep their "youthful" appearance? uhh...OK...
I realize that there are many conditions for which people seek medical attention, one of which is obesity, and generally not capable of moving more than 10 feet without having a little red go kart tote them around.
I saw a blurb on the news that "by 2046, all Americans will be obese".
Whoa. Hold the Twinkies, the Ho-Ho's, and the Milkshakes.
Does that mean that the Atkin's diet, anorexic jackasses are going to be eliminated? Right, they will all have died as a result of clogged arteries and heart attacks. But at least they'll be easier to carry down the aisle to the altar in a pine box.
How about the professional athletes?
Laborers?
Marathoners?
Distance cyclists?
Well, that begs the question, what is "obese?"
Obesity is defined as being above your BMI, which is calculated by your height, weight and sex. MY weight should be no more than 170, max, to achieve a "normal" BMI. I haven't seen that since I had mono.
In another article, I read they are going to stop pushing the "BMI" or body mass index as a method of judging if a person is healthy, even though they may be considered overweight according to their BMI. Take someone who is active (may not get quite as much exercise as they would like, but still able to ride a bicycle for 2+ hours at 16 miles per hour), has "normal" blood pressure, "normal" lipid profile, and "normal" fasting blood sugar, but tips the scale a bit higher than the "average" person. They are told they are "overweight" and made to feel guilty, stress about what they eat, and attempt to change everything they do to try and fit into a cookie cutter image that the government would like to promote.
I went to see my doctor for my annual physical. Ok, I know that I'm NOT the posterchild for a bikini advertisement, unless they slicked up Baby Shamu and slid him in. I don't pretend to be. I try to wear clothes that are fashionable and moderately flattering, but I prefer BDU's and army boots, which are anything but.
However, my doctor looked at me and said, without gleaning any background info about what I eat, do for exercise, etc, that "You should consider joining Weight Watchers...Not that we endorse them or anything, but we've had patients that were successful at weight loss."
******WHAM*******
Unsolicited, blatant, telling me that I'm a porker (thanks, as if I didn't know that already, you jackass. I needed another blow to my ego...don't worry, it will bounce off the blubber), and need to start running on the treadmill. I hate running. My boobs hit me in the face, and I get more workout in my chest than my legs, unless i duct tape and saran wrap them in one place. Instead of "advising me" to join some shitty, dehydrated, chemical flavored, mail order food company, that I can't afford, why don't you do a little research? Barriers to prevention? (Cost, I like the food I eat (homecooked, mostly organic, thank you), need new sneakers (that I can't afford right now), can't do push ups because my wrist hurts and if you'd give me two fucking seconds to take a breath you might actually hear that, my back is giving me crap, and add to the fact that you were just a complete ass? Take your suggestion, shove it sideways where the monkey stuffed the nut, and go find a class on compassion, you useless, arrogant, deaf, waste of a copay and my insurance dollars. Go write more on your precious journal.
In some ways, I applaud the Dove commercials that are trying to promote a young woman's self image, but produced by a company that tries to sell firming creams and help women keep their "youthful" appearance? uhh...OK...
Friday, August 8, 2008
Something to laugh about
This evening, while I was changing into some lounge-y type clothing, I looked down and realized a close friend of mine was slowly dying.
It used to be so supportive, and separate, but it has grown old. First, it lost a rib. Then it lost the other rib.
It has conformed to me, even on bad days.
It's lived a good life, but it's slowly unraveling, and as I part with my friend because I could just kill someone with the way this unaboob swings from side to side.
It used to be so supportive, and separate, but it has grown old. First, it lost a rib. Then it lost the other rib.
It has conformed to me, even on bad days.
It's lived a good life, but it's slowly unraveling, and as I part with my friend because I could just kill someone with the way this unaboob swings from side to side.
More on laziness
Tonight's babble?
Abuse of the state system
Our lovely state has opened it's doors to immigrants, which has been done for hundreds of years. Irish, German, English, French, Canadian, and I apologize to anyone whom I have forgotten. Back when these people were immigrating, they brought with them sweat, tears, muscle, and lots of hard work. How is this demonstrated? Ever seen the buildings in your "downtown" with the years on them? I highly doubt that they were constructed with the use of cranes. Farms? Stone walls? Roads? Ditches? Railways? Mills (woolen, paper, wood, you name it), and they did it. Sure, you had some people in there who wouldn't carry their own weight, however, they were few and far between, and those that didn't, didn't live for very long like that. The "poor farm" was alive and well. It was an era when people knew the value of a hard earned dollar, didn't take anyone or anything for granted, and to help thy neighbor was a way of life.
Fast forward to our current state of affairs.
We have opened our doors to a population who has immigrated to the US because of drug wars, war lords, over population, disease, and nonsustainable living. Some of this population is trying really hard to climb their way out of the devastation and squalor they live in by going to school, farming, getting a job, and making a living. For these people, Kudos. I laud these people. To the ones who are given a car and have the license plate "UBOTIT"...I have a special place in my heart for you...and it gets colder each time I see my paycheck having more taxes taken out.
We have people who sit around the house all day and collect a "pay check" from the government. For what? Breathing? Changing the channel? On the claim that they have a "disability". I don't discredit the people who have a TRUE disability (missing a head). Paralyzed from the neck down. Vegetative states. I know there are other injuries that make it prohibitive for someone to lift, walk, or anything else. Some people who have a limited list of psychiatric disorders. Being fat is not a reason not to work. Maybe if you actually went to work and had some structure, instead of walking from the couch to the refrigerator (or just have one installed next to the couch), you wouldn't be in that predicament to begin with.
However, I don't feel that we should give people who have never worked a day in their life to pay into social security SSDI.
I don't feel that we should GIVE housing to people who refuse to work. Want housing? Get something you can AFFORD. If all you can afford is a tent, well, at least it's a roof over your head. May not be the best, but it's not a payment you can just afford per month while you are in search of the elusive American dream that you will end up paying for until 20 years after you die at the ripe old age of 95.
I don't believe we should hand out food stamps for someone to purchase chicken nuggets, Sunny Delight, soda, and chips (and spend $40 dollars on the EBT card) followed by beer, cigarettes, and a smut magazine, and leave in a brand new 40k truck. Need food? Grow your own. Work on a farm. Sell the bling. Rhinestone covered thongs do not count as necessities.
I don't feel that we should give out health care. If you need it, fine. But after you receive it, volunteer. You have some sort of talent. Sorting paperclips could be a job for these people. Walk from one end of the hospital to the other taking lost people to the place they're looking for.
I don't feel we should "provide" child care. If you need child care, and can't pay for it, don't have any more kids! If you can't afford the one you've got, why breed more? Why work just to pay for child care?
School should be a place for learning, and not for "free care" (that you pay for in taxes) for 6 hours (8 if you count the hour each way for the bus). It's not romper room. You can't bounce off the walls for 5.98 hours of the day, and the other .02 hours you're in the bathroom. If you do something wrong, there should be consequences.
This brings me to the news of the day that has me wound.
Matthew has posted this
If you do something wrong, there should be consequences.
Killing someone is wrong. Even if it wasn't intentional, your actions have consequences. When playing baseball and you hit the neighbors window, you had to pay for it, apologize, get grounded, and not do it again. It was still an accident, but there were consequences.
12 years is nothing. It's an era of school. In Kindergarten, we all imagined that we would NEVER graduate. We eventually did. In looking back, we postulate where the time went.
Make him do something productive. Stamp license plates. Build furniture. Sweep up dust chips. Collect garbage on the side of the road. Shovel out fire hydrants in the winter. Live in hell until death (no visitors, no "day passes", no amenities, nothing), and maybe, just maybe, it will be halfway equal to killing someone.
Instead of giving satellite or cable t.v., weight room, 3 squares, a bed, and clean clothes, make it something people don't want. If there wasn't a stigma attached, and the whole moral compass that I have, I would say, damn, I can get all of that without doing anything? Sign me up! The sheriff who did the baloney sandwiches, yurts, and had the whole chain gang thing had it right. People didn't want to do that, so the crime went down. Shocker.
We have become a soft society. A society that expects things for free, not willing to work for them, and not realizing a lot of hard work (of someone) goes into that "pay check" that you get once a month to sit, be a sack of shit and breed like bunnies.
I understand that mistakes happen. However, I shouldn't have to pay for other peoples mistakes.
My wonderful, loving husband works in a machine shop as a second shift supervisor. Because of the nature of my job (working day time hours), his schedule of 3p-1a is a little prohibitive of seeing each other.
I take dinner to him most nights, (and in the almost 3 months he's been on this shift , I may have missed 3 nights), and it's usually something homemade, even if it's leftovers. I eat with him, and go home. Sometimes I get ice cream for the other guys, but I'm not there for long. I have things to do (feed the dog, clean up my hellish mess in the kitchen, etc)
One of his employees has a girlfriend. Not that unusual.
What is unusual, is that he brings his girlfriend with him, sits her in the break room with a laptop, and she sits and watches movies or surfs the internet.
Now, when I was a kiddo, and my mother would get called in to work (as an EMT-I) and didn't have someone to watch us, we would go with her. We took books, crafts, anything to keep us occupied until she was done. It didn't happen often, but it happened a couple of times. If I remember correctly, I usually ended up helping do something in the office.
Back to the girlfriend. She has 2 kids at home. And she lives with her father. Her reason for going to "work" with her boyfriend? "It gets me out of the house and I don't have to listen to my father and my kids scream". (She's younger than I am, and I'm gradjiated high school and 4 year college, and a little life experience, but not ready for the old folks home yet).
Whoa. Wasn't that part of the job description when you got pregnant and squirted out those screaming little brats?
Why aren't you at home, teaching them right and wrong, feeding them, putting them to bed? Oh yeah, that's right, you don't know the difference yourself, feeding is a drive-by from the burger joint, and bed is where you go to boink, oh, I'm sorry, put sedated limp rags of kids because you can't handle them!
Solution? Get a job. Get a residence of some nature. Make a living instead of leaching off me and the rest of society, and stop bitching about how horrible the life that you choose to make for yourself isn't the "elusive American Dream".
Abuse of the state system
Our lovely state has opened it's doors to immigrants, which has been done for hundreds of years. Irish, German, English, French, Canadian, and I apologize to anyone whom I have forgotten. Back when these people were immigrating, they brought with them sweat, tears, muscle, and lots of hard work. How is this demonstrated? Ever seen the buildings in your "downtown" with the years on them? I highly doubt that they were constructed with the use of cranes. Farms? Stone walls? Roads? Ditches? Railways? Mills (woolen, paper, wood, you name it), and they did it. Sure, you had some people in there who wouldn't carry their own weight, however, they were few and far between, and those that didn't, didn't live for very long like that. The "poor farm" was alive and well. It was an era when people knew the value of a hard earned dollar, didn't take anyone or anything for granted, and to help thy neighbor was a way of life.
Fast forward to our current state of affairs.
We have opened our doors to a population who has immigrated to the US because of drug wars, war lords, over population, disease, and nonsustainable living. Some of this population is trying really hard to climb their way out of the devastation and squalor they live in by going to school, farming, getting a job, and making a living. For these people, Kudos. I laud these people. To the ones who are given a car and have the license plate "UBOTIT"...I have a special place in my heart for you...and it gets colder each time I see my paycheck having more taxes taken out.
We have people who sit around the house all day and collect a "pay check" from the government. For what? Breathing? Changing the channel? On the claim that they have a "disability". I don't discredit the people who have a TRUE disability (missing a head). Paralyzed from the neck down. Vegetative states. I know there are other injuries that make it prohibitive for someone to lift, walk, or anything else. Some people who have a limited list of psychiatric disorders. Being fat is not a reason not to work. Maybe if you actually went to work and had some structure, instead of walking from the couch to the refrigerator (or just have one installed next to the couch), you wouldn't be in that predicament to begin with.
However, I don't feel that we should give people who have never worked a day in their life to pay into social security SSDI.
I don't feel that we should GIVE housing to people who refuse to work. Want housing? Get something you can AFFORD. If all you can afford is a tent, well, at least it's a roof over your head. May not be the best, but it's not a payment you can just afford per month while you are in search of the elusive American dream that you will end up paying for until 20 years after you die at the ripe old age of 95.
I don't believe we should hand out food stamps for someone to purchase chicken nuggets, Sunny Delight, soda, and chips (and spend $40 dollars on the EBT card) followed by beer, cigarettes, and a smut magazine, and leave in a brand new 40k truck. Need food? Grow your own. Work on a farm. Sell the bling. Rhinestone covered thongs do not count as necessities.
I don't feel that we should give out health care. If you need it, fine. But after you receive it, volunteer. You have some sort of talent. Sorting paperclips could be a job for these people. Walk from one end of the hospital to the other taking lost people to the place they're looking for.
I don't feel we should "provide" child care. If you need child care, and can't pay for it, don't have any more kids! If you can't afford the one you've got, why breed more? Why work just to pay for child care?
School should be a place for learning, and not for "free care" (that you pay for in taxes) for 6 hours (8 if you count the hour each way for the bus). It's not romper room. You can't bounce off the walls for 5.98 hours of the day, and the other .02 hours you're in the bathroom. If you do something wrong, there should be consequences.
This brings me to the news of the day that has me wound.
Matthew has posted this
If you do something wrong, there should be consequences.
Killing someone is wrong. Even if it wasn't intentional, your actions have consequences. When playing baseball and you hit the neighbors window, you had to pay for it, apologize, get grounded, and not do it again. It was still an accident, but there were consequences.
12 years is nothing. It's an era of school. In Kindergarten, we all imagined that we would NEVER graduate. We eventually did. In looking back, we postulate where the time went.
Make him do something productive. Stamp license plates. Build furniture. Sweep up dust chips. Collect garbage on the side of the road. Shovel out fire hydrants in the winter. Live in hell until death (no visitors, no "day passes", no amenities, nothing), and maybe, just maybe, it will be halfway equal to killing someone.
Instead of giving satellite or cable t.v., weight room, 3 squares, a bed, and clean clothes, make it something people don't want. If there wasn't a stigma attached, and the whole moral compass that I have, I would say, damn, I can get all of that without doing anything? Sign me up! The sheriff who did the baloney sandwiches, yurts, and had the whole chain gang thing had it right. People didn't want to do that, so the crime went down. Shocker.
We have become a soft society. A society that expects things for free, not willing to work for them, and not realizing a lot of hard work (of someone) goes into that "pay check" that you get once a month to sit, be a sack of shit and breed like bunnies.
I understand that mistakes happen. However, I shouldn't have to pay for other peoples mistakes.
My wonderful, loving husband works in a machine shop as a second shift supervisor. Because of the nature of my job (working day time hours), his schedule of 3p-1a is a little prohibitive of seeing each other.
I take dinner to him most nights, (and in the almost 3 months he's been on this shift , I may have missed 3 nights), and it's usually something homemade, even if it's leftovers. I eat with him, and go home. Sometimes I get ice cream for the other guys, but I'm not there for long. I have things to do (feed the dog, clean up my hellish mess in the kitchen, etc)
One of his employees has a girlfriend. Not that unusual.
What is unusual, is that he brings his girlfriend with him, sits her in the break room with a laptop, and she sits and watches movies or surfs the internet.
Now, when I was a kiddo, and my mother would get called in to work (as an EMT-I) and didn't have someone to watch us, we would go with her. We took books, crafts, anything to keep us occupied until she was done. It didn't happen often, but it happened a couple of times. If I remember correctly, I usually ended up helping do something in the office.
Back to the girlfriend. She has 2 kids at home. And she lives with her father. Her reason for going to "work" with her boyfriend? "It gets me out of the house and I don't have to listen to my father and my kids scream". (She's younger than I am, and I'm gradjiated high school and 4 year college, and a little life experience, but not ready for the old folks home yet).
Whoa. Wasn't that part of the job description when you got pregnant and squirted out those screaming little brats?
Why aren't you at home, teaching them right and wrong, feeding them, putting them to bed? Oh yeah, that's right, you don't know the difference yourself, feeding is a drive-by from the burger joint, and bed is where you go to boink, oh, I'm sorry, put sedated limp rags of kids because you can't handle them!
Solution? Get a job. Get a residence of some nature. Make a living instead of leaching off me and the rest of society, and stop bitching about how horrible the life that you choose to make for yourself isn't the "elusive American Dream".
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
cars trucks and SUV's
A long time ago, I posted about SUV's. I'm so excited that I had someone other than family comment on it (thanks EE)
I have to babble...
I have a tiny car. It gets me where I want to go, most days. The only days it didn't this past winter was when we had 2 feet of snow over the night, and it just warn't movin'
I love my car. It gets great gas mileage, I can put a backboard in it, 8 foot 4x4's, skis (downhill and cross country) and all my bike schtuff. Just not all at once.
Don't get me wrong, some SUV's have their purpose. Off roading and backwoodsy stuff, and for people who HAVE to get to work (nurses, MD's, paramedics, etc). But for soccer mom's who whip them puppies around like they own the road, and drive like complete retards in the middle of winter and then wind up doing the turtle on the side of the road because their top heavy vehicle slid on the black ice, I have no use for. Just because they are bigger, doesn't mean they are safer. I have seen SUV'ers with horrendous injuries (and dead) from driving stupid. In my humble opinion (that's what this blog is all about) It doesn't really matter what we drive anymore. There are so many big rigs out there, that if you're going to get hit, and hurt, you can drive your biggest baddest vehicle, but you're still going to be hurt. I've seen people driving compact cars walk away from a totaled vehicle, and people driving big vehicles not fare so well.
Choose your vehicle well.
I have to babble...
I have a tiny car. It gets me where I want to go, most days. The only days it didn't this past winter was when we had 2 feet of snow over the night, and it just warn't movin'
I love my car. It gets great gas mileage, I can put a backboard in it, 8 foot 4x4's, skis (downhill and cross country) and all my bike schtuff. Just not all at once.
Don't get me wrong, some SUV's have their purpose. Off roading and backwoodsy stuff, and for people who HAVE to get to work (nurses, MD's, paramedics, etc). But for soccer mom's who whip them puppies around like they own the road, and drive like complete retards in the middle of winter and then wind up doing the turtle on the side of the road because their top heavy vehicle slid on the black ice, I have no use for. Just because they are bigger, doesn't mean they are safer. I have seen SUV'ers with horrendous injuries (and dead) from driving stupid. In my humble opinion (that's what this blog is all about) It doesn't really matter what we drive anymore. There are so many big rigs out there, that if you're going to get hit, and hurt, you can drive your biggest baddest vehicle, but you're still going to be hurt. I've seen people driving compact cars walk away from a totaled vehicle, and people driving big vehicles not fare so well.
Choose your vehicle well.
More ranting
I do more than rant, honestly.
To give a bit of history, I'm an EMT-I practicing as an EMT, and have a day job working on data entry on trauma patients.
I have a BS in Community Health (READ: Prevention)
I have seen what happens when teenagers and others drink to excess (and more than I care to)
I was never a party animal in high school or college. I had other things to do. Like getting hurt.
Someone I know admitted to me today that she not only allowed, but purchased alcohol for her underage daughter and her daughters boyfriend, who were staying in one place.
Her philosophy "She's going to do it anyway. Why not let her do it? At least she's not driving." This is not the first time I have heard this philosophy, and it bothers me.
How about teaching your child some responsibility? That you don't need to have alcohol to have fun? That alcohol solves no problems, and usually ends up causing more in the end? Is a gateway drug, and can introduce a young malleable mind to start trying other things that may be less than legal?
How long is it before she decides, while at a party, wants to go for some munchies with a bunch of her friends and ends up wrapping her car around a phone pole and kills someone, or herself? People who drink and drive and kill/hurt people usually don't intend to do it (well, maybe some), and it's billed as an accident.
Why are we allowing our society to let this philosophy run rampant?
Why do we sit and wring our hands and say "How did this happen?" when someone dies from drinking and driving, or binge drinking, or stupid things that happen while drinking (falling off a deck and breaking a neck)?
Not that I'm in favor of prohibition, because then it just makes more money for certain groups.
I just wish people would be more responsible
To give a bit of history, I'm an EMT-I practicing as an EMT, and have a day job working on data entry on trauma patients.
I have a BS in Community Health (READ: Prevention)
I have seen what happens when teenagers and others drink to excess (and more than I care to)
I was never a party animal in high school or college. I had other things to do. Like getting hurt.
Someone I know admitted to me today that she not only allowed, but purchased alcohol for her underage daughter and her daughters boyfriend, who were staying in one place.
Her philosophy "She's going to do it anyway. Why not let her do it? At least she's not driving." This is not the first time I have heard this philosophy, and it bothers me.
How about teaching your child some responsibility? That you don't need to have alcohol to have fun? That alcohol solves no problems, and usually ends up causing more in the end? Is a gateway drug, and can introduce a young malleable mind to start trying other things that may be less than legal?
How long is it before she decides, while at a party, wants to go for some munchies with a bunch of her friends and ends up wrapping her car around a phone pole and kills someone, or herself? People who drink and drive and kill/hurt people usually don't intend to do it (well, maybe some), and it's billed as an accident.
Why are we allowing our society to let this philosophy run rampant?
Why do we sit and wring our hands and say "How did this happen?" when someone dies from drinking and driving, or binge drinking, or stupid things that happen while drinking (falling off a deck and breaking a neck)?
Not that I'm in favor of prohibition, because then it just makes more money for certain groups.
I just wish people would be more responsible
Monday, August 4, 2008
GAHH!
I missed! I was supposed to post this weekend...but didn't have the opportunity. I was in the having a meltdown getting my new mattress and was supposed to be riding in the MS 150, which is my 8th Maine ride, but 9th overall.
So, on the first order of business...if you haven't checked what I'm referring to, maybe this
will help you understand. Well, I had to pass where it happened, and thought, well, I've done it for 3 years, I'll be fine.
Nope, thought I could do it, but il bastardo got the better of me that day.
Then, on Sunday, I decided, I would ride...It's not like I've never ridden in the rain before (All 4 Trek Across Maine's that I've done have been freezing cold and driving rain. I'm used to it). Besides, only once have I ridden either home or to work when it's been SUNNY! So rain wasn't a big deal. I left, and no sooner had I gotten down to the end of the road were people turning around and heading back. I thought "What a bunch of pussies, not wanting to ride in the rain, And then it started to thunder. And then there was lightning. Yes, boys and girls, I was riding an All metal bicycle on 700x23's and I was FEARLESS! Bring it ON, Mama Nature!
Then the event coordinators decided that having 500 people on a wet course, where visibility was not much more than your front wheel, and the thunder and lightning were cause for concern (Our spokesman is the local weatherguy...go figure) to turn us around! Grr...
So by 11 am, the weather had cleared, and the sun was shining.
If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes, it will change
The second order of business...
Our new mattress.
Yet another adventure!
I heard (or so I thought) an advertisement on the radio for a mattress company about 2 hours away having a 60% off sale on their mattresses. We were in the market for a king size bed, as our 15 pound Jack Russell Terrier had decide that our queen size just wasn't big enough for the 3 of us. I figured, hey, if we can get a 1000 mattress for 400 bucks, I'll get my arse out of bed at 0300 to be there by 0600! They even had a thing on their website.
I was very disappointed to learn that, in fact, was not the store that had the sale, but one that was 30 miles away, and didn't open until 8.
We walked in, laid down on a few mattresses (there were some that were really nice), and we found a couple that were possibilities. Unfortunately, they were not 60% off, and the salesman was not willing to come down any more than 10%.
So we left and went to a big store.
We got our king size bed for about 60% of what they were asking at the furniture store.
YAY!
Now the fun begins.
Our house, while quaint, is not very big. It was designed for little people. Not that there's anything wrong with little people, but when trying to get a big people mattress in, as the little rat on acid said "I theenk I neeed a beeger bawx.."
Furniture moving should be an Olympic Event. I never thought we could fit a 76x80" bed into a 70x 24" door, but with much more huffing and puffing and more energy expended than 2 bariatric patients spending a night on the Orgasmatron, we succeeded in getting the mattress in and set up.
We've decided it's not leaving that room until we move.
So, on the first order of business...if you haven't checked what I'm referring to, maybe this
will help you understand. Well, I had to pass where it happened, and thought, well, I've done it for 3 years, I'll be fine.
Nope, thought I could do it, but il bastardo got the better of me that day.
Then, on Sunday, I decided, I would ride...It's not like I've never ridden in the rain before (All 4 Trek Across Maine's that I've done have been freezing cold and driving rain. I'm used to it). Besides, only once have I ridden either home or to work when it's been SUNNY! So rain wasn't a big deal. I left, and no sooner had I gotten down to the end of the road were people turning around and heading back. I thought "What a bunch of pussies, not wanting to ride in the rain, And then it started to thunder. And then there was lightning. Yes, boys and girls, I was riding an All metal bicycle on 700x23's and I was FEARLESS! Bring it ON, Mama Nature!
Then the event coordinators decided that having 500 people on a wet course, where visibility was not much more than your front wheel, and the thunder and lightning were cause for concern (Our spokesman is the local weatherguy...go figure) to turn us around! Grr...
So by 11 am, the weather had cleared, and the sun was shining.
If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes, it will change
The second order of business...
Our new mattress.
Yet another adventure!
I heard (or so I thought) an advertisement on the radio for a mattress company about 2 hours away having a 60% off sale on their mattresses. We were in the market for a king size bed, as our 15 pound Jack Russell Terrier had decide that our queen size just wasn't big enough for the 3 of us. I figured, hey, if we can get a 1000 mattress for 400 bucks, I'll get my arse out of bed at 0300 to be there by 0600! They even had a thing on their website.
I was very disappointed to learn that, in fact, was not the store that had the sale, but one that was 30 miles away, and didn't open until 8.
We walked in, laid down on a few mattresses (there were some that were really nice), and we found a couple that were possibilities. Unfortunately, they were not 60% off, and the salesman was not willing to come down any more than 10%.
So we left and went to a big store.
We got our king size bed for about 60% of what they were asking at the furniture store.
YAY!
Now the fun begins.
Our house, while quaint, is not very big. It was designed for little people. Not that there's anything wrong with little people, but when trying to get a big people mattress in, as the little rat on acid said "I theenk I neeed a beeger bawx.."
Furniture moving should be an Olympic Event. I never thought we could fit a 76x80" bed into a 70x 24" door, but with much more huffing and puffing and more energy expended than 2 bariatric patients spending a night on the Orgasmatron, we succeeded in getting the mattress in and set up.
We've decided it's not leaving that room until we move.
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