I have not been in the mood to write much in the past two weeks. I am mourning the passing of my dog Neyland, as we had to put him away. His seizures were disturbing his quality of life. He was on phenolbarbitol and would have had to be on valium as well. The Michael Jackson lifestyle was not for Neyland. He was not the type of dog to lie around stoned. He did not have a living will. I knew that his will to live was still strong, but he was forced to crawl after seizures and ran around confused when he was mobile.
The husband has been sick. He went to the doctor for the first time without healthcare insurance. The doctor gave him some meds and told him that he could get his needed antibiotic at Pulbix for free. This helped to keep his costs down, as he paid cash for his treatment. I had no idea that Publix supplied some antibiotics at no charge. I’m sure that over the coming months, we will be learning more and more about inexpensive healthcare options unless we get jobs offering healthcare benefits.
I am disturbed at the frenzy of the far right in this country about healthcare. If you are fortunate enough to have healthcare insurance, you are already paying for those who do not have healthcare insurance when you go to the doctor or when you pay your premiums. Hospitals have the decency to treat those with exploding appendices whether they have insurance or not. The cost is passed on to those with insurance. The far right claims to be Christian, and is not taking care of your neighbor part of Jesus’s teachings? What would Jesus do?
I was accidentally forwarded an email that my sister had sent to a cousin. The email contained an anti-Obama message about fear. I lived in fear of my freedoms being taken away during the Bush years (Patriot Act). Odd, isn’t it.
I want to attend a pro-healthcare rally this week, but my husband fears for my safety. He is afraid that some nut will start shooting into the crowd. Hmm, have I lost my freedom of speech?
Since CNN has gone COO-COO, we have become MSNBC and Bill Maher viewers for our news. Here is a warning from Maher about the Birthers:
For the last couple of weeks, we’ve all been laughing heartily at the wacky antics of the “birthers” — the far-right goofballs who claim Barack Obama wasn’t really born in Hawaii and therefore the job of president goes to the runner-up, former Miss California Carrie Prejean.
Also, when Obama was sworn in as president, he forgot to give his answer in the form of a question.
And yet, every week, the chorus of conservatives demanding to see his birth certificate grows. It’s like they’re the Cambridge police, Obama’s in his house — the White House — and they need to see some ID.
And there’s nothing anyone can do to convince these folks. You could hand them, in person, the original birth certificate and have a video of Obama emerging from the womb with Don Ho singing in the background … and they still wouldn’t believe it.
Maher impressed on me the seriousness of this group’s claims. I’ve been ignoring their cries just as I ignore the rantings of Russ Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. But we need to do more to discredit this group.
We need to concentrate on the issues facing American citizens. I will lose my healthcare coverage in a few months, as COBRA payments will become too expensive for me on my unemployment “salary.” My husband has no healthcare as well as no job.
We have been making and paying taxes on a six-figure income the past few years. Who is covering our shortfall to the government. You (the 90% who are employed) are already paying for me to survive.
We need to stimulate the economy to provide jobs for those of us who are unemployed. Yes, I’m out there every day trying to make a living on commission marketing branded merchandise, but I need help until I can make money in this new career.
America, let’s concentrate on the issues at hand. Please stifle the Birthers. They are just fodder for comedians.
Last week, I felt hopeful; this week I feel despair.
We could not celebrate the Memorial Day weekend the way we usually do by dining out, hiking and going to movies. Well, we could hike, but the husband does not consider walking around the neighborhood a hike.
Plus I have faced the hard realities lately of being unable to give my nephew the graduation gift that I really wanted to give him. The $50 bill was a sacrifice, but I had wanted to give him $500 to put toward his first year at St. Andrews in the fall. I have not given gifts to people who have had new babies lately. My in-laws had to take us out for Mother’s and Father’s Day (we celebrate both at once).
I have not bought anything new for myself since the after Christmas sales.
And last night, I checked to see if we were eligible for “food stamps.” Hey, maybe that would give us the edge to purchase a healthcare policy for my husband. Plus, I will have to start paying my own COBRA payments beginning July 1. The good thing is that I am caught up on my medical tests/doctor’s appointment for the year. Everything was “normal.” Or within “normal” limits except for my vitamin D level.
I am hoping that the spring storms do not blow off any more shingles on the roof. Or if the winds do damage, may it be enough to use the homeowner insurance.
I am amazed that we are able to live as well as we have been able to on 25% of our 2008 income. Of course, it’s unemployment money, and I know that there is not an endless supply of that.
