Hospitals

I have worked at two hospitals. Porter Memeorial Hospital in Indiana, and Providence St. Margaret's hospital in KCK.

If you work in a hospital, you soon forget the trauma which plays about you. There are people who are sick, and dying, and some who are in pain, but because your job is not medically involved, you may be unaware. I worked Maintenance. My job was to keep the roads clear during the winter, and the grounds looking nice during the summer. That is not an easy task when you live here. By here, I mean, the Mid-West. When we worked here, snows were not uncommon. We had two and a half miles of road to clear, and we had many parking lots. We could work all night just keeping the roads clear. In the summer, draught was common. Grass could blow away with the wind. It is not easy keeping such a place green. When we were at the inner City Site, Porter Funeral Home would dye their grass green in the summer. We used to joke that nothing died there except the customers. Often people would confuse my last hospital job with the funeral home, both were named, Porter Memorial.

But when you lie in the bed in ER, and you are in pain, you become all so aware of everything. It no longer is something academic.

Such was the case last week, when my stomach hurt, and I thought I had a herniated hernia. I was scared, and I was in pain.

I was relieved to discover that it was just kidney stones. I say just, they still hurt, but not like the other. The other was pain of unknown origion. I could take the pain of known origion.

We live in Perlious Times

I just learned of a new scheme by Rush and company about trying to recreate 1968 , but this time in Denver. Of course, no right thinking person would ever want to create a mess as what happened in Chicago in '68. Hell, there are those who blame the Chicago police department , they called it a "Police Riot." None of The Chicago Seven, as those who were charged with creating the riot where called, were ever convicted. How could they, they met to organize a march in protest to the War in Viet Nam, those who did all of the rioting , were wearing police uniforms.



Rush has called for a reinactiment. Hell, things now are in place to do real civil liberties damage. As Mike Malloy says, this stinks of a government job. Something to bring down the whole force of Homeland Security down on our back.



Dr. Death, Chartoff, looks like death warmed over. During Katrinia, he sat on his hands, hell, all of the Bushites did, but give a fake riot in Denver, and he will tear the heads off children.
But, this coming disaster is coming, and I don't know if we can wake up from this horrible dream.

Chicken Thieves, moonshiners, and the law

My Grandma was a friend to the outlaw. During the Depresion when most had to keep livestock, and gardens to live, Ma, as the locals called her, hid out the rift raft. The Revenuers would knock on her door, and yell, "We know you're hiding them Haddie," her other given name.
She would shout back through a bolted door,"No I am not!" But , of course, she was.
Because of her heroics, everyone's chickens in the area would end up being stollen , but not Grandma's.
In the picture, a varment got that chicken. It was not a clever chicken thief.

I was thinking this morning, I come from a long line of shady characters. I had one relative who salted coal mines with flecks of gold, and then sold the mines as gold mines. When the rubes caught on, they were ready to string him up, but by luck or just pure deftness, he escaped the noose. Some time later, he returned to the county to tell others that he was dying, which was the truth, and when he did pass, there was one Hell of send off. Those he had cheated cried, wailed at his wake. I would not have been surprised if someone did not slip him a donation into his casket.
My Uncle Kenneth was a liar. He would lie even when it did not benefit anyone. he could not tell the straight of anything.

Rainbows

Scientifically, we know how to form a rainbow, water and refracted sun light. I still marvel though every time I see one. I've seen colored arches which look strong enough to carry me, or even horses over the horizon. Some though don't appear that strong, while others arch in an upward path which no man could hope to follow. Rainbows.
We live in a special area protected by an atomosthere, hence, we also get rainbows. I am amazed.
A few years ago, some foolish scienctist thought they could create a world within the world. This experiment failed miserably. I forget what they called this folly, but it failed badly.
Whether God created the Heavens and the Earth or Nature, whoever the archetect was. knew how to make things live. I sort of feel like the American Indian. Stay with the Mother. She knows best.

VAMPIRES AND OTHER BEASTS .....

I got out of the hospital on Wednesday. I swore after that one incompetent boob of a technician tried to get blood from my hand that I was leaving. I look at the top of my hand, and see her needle work.

I went in because I thought I had a strangulated Hernia, it was only kidney stones. I still did not like the kidney sand as it turned out to be. I did not have a stone, just lots of sand. Still hurt.

Reflecttions

Do you recall the movie,"Cool Hand Luke". The movie was made about 1970, perhaps earlier, but Paul Newman played Luke. Luke was rebellious, much as some of his other characters he'd played before; I recall the role he played in Hud. Hud was an arrogant son of a gun. He was a womanizer, and a drunk, but in this role Newman is just a drunk and a social misfit. He was a grown-up James Dean character who had become in truth,"A Rebel Without a Cause."

Now, what has this to do with Chaney's sun glasses? Well, in the movie, there was one guard who wore reflective sunglasses. The guards sunglasses were silver colored, so everything was reflected on the outside, but nothing showed behind the glasses. With Chaney, I wish there were at least that much transparency. I used a title in my Groups ;"Reflections in a golden eye."

I vaguely recall that being used as a title in something.

It is cold, wet and damp out. As Carol said yesterday,"I wish Spring would get here."

Paths

Another picture from Flikre. It is a path, but where it leads, no one knows. I like this picture. It reminds me of our travels. We don't know where we are going, possibly have no clue as to where we have been. But, as with the picture, we hope for a golden end to the road.

I have this nagging cold. I don't even think the flu shot would have helped prevent this. Carol got the shot, she got it, so perhaps it was the wrong strain. You know, they guess.

Someone stole our neighbor's A/C unit. This is quite common. They steal the units for the copper. Whoever stole this unit , took the entire thing, leaving only an empty slab where it had rested.

My groundskeeper, James , told me about it. I suggested that perhaps we ought to put a fence around my A/C unit, and he assured me that there was no need. Mr. Lake has his house for sale, and it is obvious that he is not living there, so the thief or thieves felt they had a right to take what they wanted. I had heard of such a thing happening, but usually when reported on the news, the thieves have left a part of the A/C behind. They, taking only the valuable parts. Not so here.

I don't know if there is a golden future or not ahead of us. I sure hope so.

Sentimental Journey

I got this image from Flikre. It is called, "Passing Train". I love trains. I love the idea of going back to the olden days when you could ride coast to coast on a train, eat at a dining car, smoke a cigar in the salon, and perchance partake of some spirits of some sort, mine would be a coke, but never mind. And, since I gave up smoking, the smoking car would be out of the question too, but I can dream.

Going by rail today is not so easy. Railroads want to haul freight, not passingers. But, perhaps when times get tough, and when airlines can no longer afford to fly, perhaps the train will return. Dining cars, sleepers, you name it. It never went away in Europe. You can still tour the world there on train.

I remember in the '60's there was a satirical movie about trains, and travel. I believe the title of the film was,"If it's Tuesday this must be Amsterdam" or some such title. I saw the movie, but now some forty years later, only the title seems to have stuck.

I once traveled by train. We were going to Grandma's. I loved watching cars wait while we passed. I had often been in the waiting line along the road as the turn style was down and the warning bells clanged, but it was nice being the reason they had to wait. It was like we had a free pass to go on our way, and the car had to wait and take its turn.

Back to the song,"Going to take a sentimental journey.....Why did I decide to roam, going to take a sentimental journey, stentimental journey home...Seven, that's the time we're leaving....going to take a sentimental journey home." And somewhere in those lyrics, there is a line about the clickitclack of railroad track, taking me back......

Stollen pictures

I got this picture from Flicker, and it is from Holland. They must have traveled to the Western part of he U.S., because I don't believe Holland has desert. LOL.

I will come back to this.

The future is not looking good......

http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=13 Terry Gross had an economist on her show today, and he explained what would cause the next economic crisis in this country, spceculators, and unregulated money. I would that anyone with an ear to hear would listen. I don't know what good it will do, but someone has to listen. Regulation has to be reinstated.
Also, I am concerned with the way this country is being quaranteed. You can't go outside the country now without papers. Driver's liscences will soon be Federalized. This is another step in gaining more power to the Axis, the Neocons. It is all tied together. And, there is going to be a fence across our Southern border. But, have you ever thought that a fence not only keeps someone out, but also someone in.
I've posted this and more on my Group in Yahoo. I don't know if anyone is paying attention. I still would like to flee. Run, leave, before disaster strikes. It seems to me only a matter of time.

Dreams

I had a doozie of a dream last night. I dreamt that Carol and I were on the road traveling. We came to this antique shop. Carol and I love to look at odd things. We meet an older couple, the man has an old fashioned horn, the type you hold up to your ear, except it was amplified, I remember the color, it was blue. I made comment that I had a hering aide, and it was smaller, right behind my ear. The old man didn' t answer, but allowed me to try his hearing aide, and in my dream, I was impressed. He carried it on a hook around his neck.
We asked where his wife was, and he couldn't recall, he muttered something like, "She is around..." Later, we learn that he is in the begining stages of Alzheimer's Disease. His wife says that even though he was often confused, he did fairly well.

When I parked our car, I somehow ended up in this antique shop. Cars were parked all over one another. It was a concern, but something we thought we could straighten out later....
At the end of my dream, we drove out a door, and went on our merry way.

Since Mom died, I have been slightly disoriented. I have had Mom with me for 63 years, and for the first time, I don't have her. Oh, the apron strings were long since cut, but there is still a tie.
I wrote Lynn Pulford that it was a horrible thing to be orphaned at age 63. When I called Mom here, it was really to look after her. Litle did I think she could or would succome to one of the most insidious diseases around.

April Fool's Day

The First of April, you can never be certain of the weather. I do believe that is why it is called Arpil Fool's Day. Beware of tricksters today.

The mask is from the movie Vee. Ther hero of this piece says that, "The people shuld not be afraid of its government, but the government should be wary of its people." I do believe that is what is said. I will have to look it up. You never see the face of Vee, he is always wearing the mask.