The Drive-by Bitch

[Purplelady1040]

^^ Fixed that for you. 

Thanks! Couldn't remember what they were called

[libby]

Thanks! Couldn't remember what they were called

I lived in Jacksonville for about a year, and the thing I remember most, other than the two showers a day heat and humidity, was the roaches  .

[Palehorse]

-1 to 50 degrees over the span of two days; and the next 2 will see us go back down to 0 by Sunday night. . . 

[libby]

I waited all week to watch/hear Willie Nelson on PBS tonight -- he received The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song -- but what a disappointment. I thought they'd let him sing or at least play recordings by him, but no. All I heard other than lots of talk before I turned away was somebody else singing a couple of his songs, and what a difference without Willie's unique voice. Sounded kinda like swing. 

[The Troll]

^^ Fixed that for you. 

  Plus, sand fleas, noseeums (the nasty little bastards), Snow Birds driving slow and into things, squawking ducks, gated communities and Mexicans.        

[Palehorse]

[Palehorse]

I am going to BITCH here, so fair warning. I am mad as hell over this. . . 

4 years ago I had a temporary employee working for me. He is a USMC Veteran of the ongoing theatre of operations, and had recently been disabled and discharged after a 14 year career and several tours in the middle-east. He is a very personable man and father of 2 children, (then), 3 now.

I got to know him because we share some personal history, which we found out during our conversations, and as is the case with the majority of Veterans he displayed an exemplary level of focus and drive, along with a strong penchant for following instructions; written or verbal. He was (is) a damned fine worker and a decent human being.

Over time, we shared some personal stories around our experiences, and one I was honored to hear of surrounded how he came to be disabled and honorably discharged from his service.

He and his unit were deployed to clear buildings within a city in Iraq. As they were doing so one of the walls of a building they were in the process of clearing collapsed, pinning him by his left ankle under some bricks. He said he felt a snap, but his unit cleared him of the bricks on him, and although it hurt, he was the SGT in charge of the unit, so he had the medic tape his ankle up, and they finished their assignment. That evening his CO decided that since he was short (2 weeks left in the deployment), he was packed up and sent back to Kuwait where the medical staff declared his ankle broken.

He was sent to Germany, where they re-set his ankle, x-rayed it, and after a few days cast it and sent him back state-side for R & R.

Once the DR's declared his ankle healed, he was re-assigned to another unit that was deploying back to the litter box. Once there again, he began experiencing pain in the ankle, and swelling. The docs gave him pain meds. The pain persisted. He became dependent upon the meds, so went through rehab for that and his still killing him ankle. After countless medical appointments, he was sent back home; and after another long series of medical appointments and x-rays, they informed him he was being medically discharged and declared disabled. . . This was 2004.

I had an opening for full time employment come up, and he applied; as did every other temp on campus. I interviewed 25 people for that opening, a lot of them equal in skill-sets to him, but not in initiative and attitude. He got the job and I was damned happy to have him on my team. And his work spoke for itself.

I got a new position a year later and took over another department. It was not long before I had several openings in my new area, and he and 4 other veterans that were members of my old team applied and got the jobs. They followed me.

He has continued to have severe pain in that ankle, and this whole time he has gone to the VA to have it looked at. They'd x-ray it, then tell him he needed new shoes and insoles, and send him on his way. They always offered him pain meds, and after his initial experience with that he has steadfastly declined; preferring to pop ibuprofen to get him through each day.

We've had many conversations about that issue, and I've always been flexible with his schedule to allow him to get it looked at every quarter. This year the VA received a new crop of doctors and one of them is a podiatrist that it was his great fortune to see last week. This doctor examined him thoroughly, reviewed his x-rays, and ordered an MRI of the ankle because things weren't adding up. . . in his experienced opinion. The MRI was yesterday.

Today he came in and showed me an image from that MRI that he has on his smart phone. I am no doctor, but it readily apparent that this man's ankle is clearly still broken, with a huge splinter the width of the bone hanging. It is fractured and so sharp it has cut some of the tendons.

12 YEARS this man has been walking around with this injury, and no one within the VA considered his pain a priority or to be severe enough to look a little deeper with an MRI. I am astounded he has been able to work, much less walk with all of this going on! He has had constant pain and ankle dislocations the whole time, and they did not care enough to look deeper; preferring to placate him with insoles and shoes and an offer of drugs.

I am so mad over this I could spit hell-fire.

I apologized to him over the treatment he and his family has been subjected to. There is no excuse for this at all. I am so embarrassed by this and enraged I cannot put it into words. His military career was ended over the failure of the medical staff to properly diagnose and treat his injury from the onset, and the whole thing further exacerbated by 12 years of medical failure to exercise due diligence in the diagnosis and treatment of his continuing medical issues.

As fate seem to insist to have things, my wife and his wife have known each other since before he and I ever met. A fact we discovered when I mentioned to him my wife was going to a bowling tournament in Reno a few years back. He said his wife was too. A couple of days later I mentioned my wife was flying out on Thursday, and of course so was his, and eventually we figured out that not only were they going to the same tournament, but they were on the same team and they knew each other for years. . .

He and his wife recently had a child last September, and she is the cutest little angel I have ever seen.

When he went back to the doctor this morning, he said the doctor wanted to discuss a plan for fixing it. He told the doctor to just lop it off when he suggested fusing. But the doctor wants him to consider several other options first. I told him to decide and get it done right now, even if it means a several month long rehab I told him to get it done. (He has short-term / long term insurance coverage for such medical issues, so he will get paid).

When I got home, I contacted his wife and apologized to her as well.

WTF is wrong with this country that we will not take proper care of the men and women that put their lives on the line for this nation each and every day?!!!! 

[Bo D]

Take a look at this ...


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/veterans-health-care_us_56c7778de4b0ec6725e28aed

[Palehorse]

God damned bright, sunny, beautiful spring day with birds everywhere. And the damned power goes out. . . WTF??

[Palehorse]

Here it is. My bi-annual bitching about:

Daylight saving time SUCKS! CLOCK GAMES SUCK! Pick a time and LEAVE it alone! 

[libby]

Amen! I hate Daylight Saving Time also!

[Palehorse]

Amen! I hate Daylight Saving Time also!

[Palehorse]

This morning Apple pushed an OS update to my iPhone. Normally these things will  not update until your phone of device is logged onto a WiFi connection to the internet or a hard wired docing system. I checked to see what it was and for whatever reason the damned thing began updating immediately, the moment I went into settings. . .

I thought, well I guess it's something minor and small and let it run through the update process. BIG MISTAKE!

When the phone restarted and I unlocked it, it wanted to log onto the Apple site to complete the update process. Of course, THIS required a WiFi connection, and since I was at work and this particular phone is my personal one, I could not log onto the corporate WiFi to complete it. And I was effectively locked out of my phone until I could do so. . . 

After jumping through several hoops, and pleading my case with the Director of IT, I got a tech to log on with my phone using her login for the WiFi, and completed the process.

I was not a happy camper over this and am still a bit perturbed over it. One thing for sure, ANY future updates pushed to my phone will be declined until I am back at the stall. I am considering ditching this phone for something else, however the plan I am currently under is no longer offered by the provider I  have been with for nearly 2 decades, and the new plans are high cost to get into and push leasing of the new device, further adding to the monthly cost.

I am now looking into obtaining a wireless home phone and ditching the damed electronic leash (cell phones) entirely. Huge savings associated with doing so and not just money. Time is increasingly valuable to me as I age, and these damned cell phones place you at the beck and call of everyone you know 24/7/365. . . 

[Locutus]

My update didn't do that. 

[Anne]

This morning Apple pushed an OS update to my iPhone. Normally these things will  not update until your phone of device is logged onto a WiFi connection to the internet or a hard wired docing system. I checked to see what it was and for whatever reason the damned thing began updating immediately, the moment I went into settings. . .

I thought, well I guess it's something minor and small and let it run through the update process. BIG MISTAKE!

When the phone restarted and I unlocked it, it wanted to log onto the Apple site to complete the update process. Of course, THIS required a WiFi connection, and since I was at work and this particular phone is my personal one, I could not log onto the corporate WiFi to complete it. And I was effectively locked out of my phone until I could do so. . . 

After jumping through several hoops, and pleading my case with the Director of IT, I got a tech to log on with my phone using her login for the WiFi, and completed the process.

I was not a happy camper over this and am still a bit perturbed over it. One thing for sure, ANY future updates pushed to my phone will be declined until I am back at the stall. I am considering ditching this phone for something else, however the plan I am currently under is no longer offered by the provider I  have been with for nearly 2 decades, and the new plans are high cost to get into and push leasing of the new device, further adding to the monthly cost.

I am now looking into obtaining a wireless home phone and ditching the damed electronic leash (cell phones) entirely. Huge savings associated with doing so and not just money. Time is increasingly valuable to me as I age, and these damned cell phones place you at the beck and call of everyone you know 24/7/365. . . 

moo

I don't answer my phone when I am away from home. If it is important the caller will leave a voicemail.