4 legged compasion

As we sat in the car at the Veterinarians office waiting for them to open, I watched as the tears run down the face of the man I have known and loved for some 19yrs.
The path we went down was a long and happy one with this little creature, but now it seemed in doubt.
Several years ago our dear friend Lee, called and told us of a sad story of a little dog (Dutches) who's owner had died a tragic death and he needed a home for her.
After hearing the story we agreed to give her a home.
She was a great dog, playful, happy and full of life.
She had survived and indeed thrived even with the introduction of two Dachshund puppies, which she dealt with and did her best to impart her worldly dogie wisdom on to them.
A couple weeks ago she woke up one morning and had a slight cough.
We didn't think to much of it as we all had been coughing in our family what with allergies and all, we didn't think to much of it.
last week though she got worse and it was a very short time from then to sitting in the Car waiting for the Vet to open.
She could not get out of her kennel the morning we took her in to the Vet's and was struggling to breath, as we watched her, we both quickly agreed this was very serious and needed to be taken care of NOW.
As we sat there and watched her struggle to breathe, my heart broke for the obvious way she was trying to stay with us and fighting for every breath she took.
I gently stroked her head and told her we would make this go away.
As the tears rolled down my Spouses face I realized something more clearly than any other time in my life.
This man has unconditional compassion for All living things.
He is a compassionate man, something not easy to do in the world today, when so many people look at compassion as weakness.
they are fools.
As I watched him comfort our little dog, it made my eyes tear up, not because of the heart wrenching scene playing out before me, but because his love and compassion is unwavering and absolute.
Hang around him long enough and you will know what I mean.
when the Vet's office opened we took her in and asked them to please give her an emergency exam and call us right away when they knew something.
We drove off and proceed to work.
30 minutes latter, we had just about made it to Paul's work, when I got a call on my cell from the Vet's office.
He started by telling me how sorry he was and proceeded to tell me she had passed away a few minutes ago as he examined her.
Heart Failure.
I pulled off the road and comforted my now weeping spouse & wiped the now freely flowing tears off my face.
It was not the best of days for us but we are working through it and I'm sure in the fullness of time we will provide a home for another little soul.
I am writing this on the train as I'm going to work, the tears are once again gently flowing down my face, but I'm not ashamed, not embarrassed, because I have learned the lesson of Four legged compassion.

Bottom Line on Health Care

Last week I wrote about Health care and a lot of the responses I got back were to say the least, Passionate!
I got many opinions back and forth, some agreeing with me and some that didn't.
Something happened this week that absolutely made perfect sense and gave me perfect clarity on the subject.
Several news organizations including CNN had some senators and congress people on to discuss the proposed health care bill and one question was asked over and over to Republicans & Democrats and the answers they gave were enlightening!
The question was "would you put your self and your family on the proposed health care plan?"
Almost all the Democrats and a lot of the Republicans refused to answer that simple question.
A few Republicans answered no.
One Democrat who is also a Doctor was asked that question by a person in a recent town hall meeting and his answer was "that's a great question, now lets move on." he would not answer the question.
This is the BOTTOM LINE for me.
If the people we elected to office are not willing to put themselves and THEIR FAMILY'S on the same health care plan they want the rest of us to be on then I sure as HELL don't want anything to do with it!

Health Care Reform, Are We Ready?

A few days ago, I got a couple of e-mails from my friend in Canada.
His e-mails had an alarming tone to them.
The e-mails were basically saying that we (Americans) should really think twice about a government run health care system.
He e-mailed me from a waiting room where he & his sick son had been waiting for hours to see a doctor.
The reason I'm sharing this with everyone is that he is a REAL Canadian citizen (unlike the actors on TV commercials) who has been living with "government managed" health care all of his life.
I have a few more thoughts on this subject at the end of this e-mail.

Below is a copy of his last and most profound e-mail.
I am posting this verbatim except for the full e-mail addresses & names for safety reasons.

"From: Kurt M*****
Date: July 25, 2009 9:11:49 AM MDT
To: Paul
Subject: FW: Letter to Paul



Hi Paul ,

Here is a little more detail on our socialized medical up here. I'm not the authority on the system but I can tell you my experiences with it.

Basically every Canadian is given a health card similar to a drivers license card. With exception of higher taxes which I will get into later , you are covered from cradle to grave. In theory any health condition you have will be taken care of. Plans may vary a little province to province , but are generally the same. Go to a doctors office and simply show your card and you good to go . Emergency trip to Hospital , same deal . What we get is health care without ever having to worry about financial ruin due to any type of health issue. And insurance can't be denied when an illness is discovered(sounds like one of those life insurance commercials). We spend less on health care than USA but have a longer life expectancy.

Sounds ok so far and for many it is just fine , especially if you are not sick . I've seen many of the horror stories on your national news about horrendous conditions up here. Although maybe not as bad as might be portrayed , there are many problems and complaints with the system we have....

First off , it's not free as many people like to say . Taxes are out of this world compared to what you probably pay . Someone making around $60,000usd would be at the 40% tax bracket. You are at the top tax bracket of about 46% after roughly $105,000usd. And the cost don't stop there. A few years back our system was costing too much so an additional tax "health care premium" ranging from anywhere from nothing for low income earners to 800usd for high income earners was implemented.( I think I forgot to mention our 13% sales tax ).
Additionally, not everything is covered. Doctors ( and I don't fault them as they are paid fer less than US doctors)apply additional fees to cover procedures not covered by the plan , requiring out of pocket expense for the patients.
One Size fits all ...I guess that is why they call it socialized. Everyone in theory is suppose to get the same level of treatment . There are no tiers. If you need a hip replacement everyone gets the same one. If there is some new carbon fiber material that cost an extra $5g's, sorry about your luck , you take what you are given . You can't pay the difference and get a better model than someone else, even with your own $. If your doctor requests a CAT scan for whatever reason, prepare for a wait .Unless you are on deaths door, if you get in before 6 months consider yourself lucky . Want to pay at a private clinic to get the scan ? Try again. Again, under universal coverage in my province, there is no choice except what the government offers . In the city I live in of approximately 300,000 people we have only 4 MRI machines. And Ontario does not use PET scanners(Update-ontario guv just announced they will cover "some"scans for cancer patients).want a PET scan for your sick dog? no problem, you can pay for that and get it same day,but pay for yourself ? forget it. Again, if required people will have to take a trip to US and pay out of pocket for this test. It is against the law to open a clinic outside of the government run system. So even if someone with lots of $ wants to pay for a scan and get the common people a little closer to the front of the line, it can't happen .

I was luck the other day . My son had a rash on his hand and the local clinic requested blood work as a precaution. We went to emergency at the hospital and after a 7 hour wait we were ok to go home. Hospitals here are understaffed and because there are shortages of doctors many people use emergency at the hospitals as there own doctors office. I only had medical attention for about 5 minutes . Sound like typical government efficiency for you ? Can you imagine running your own business with that kind of efficiency ? I would be fired. Part of the problem is that there are not enough doctors who want to work under these conditions so the hospital is understaffed. I will predict that given time, you will soon be witing for service.
Where I live , my community has a great advantage in that we are right across the river from very good hospitals in Detroit. If we are not happy with our service we can use our own $ and have a choice( an expensive choice). We Canadians can sometimes be a little too critical of your health system , but are always the first to use if we choose.
I have heard that those that are already insured will be able to keep there present insurance but anyone else will have to join your new national health system . I would be interested to know if that goes for politicians too ? My guess is there will be loophole that lets them join there own separate plan even when the rest of you don't have an option.

Looking at your system , I do think you need an overhaul . I can't imagine anyone being denied medical attention . But I would take time to think this whole process out and not try to ram a policy through congress before the summer is over just to get something done. You have a chance make great strides but just be careful what you wish for. If you don't get this right it could create a very expensive mess that no one is going to like.

So million dollar question...Do I like our health care system up here ? I do realize writing the message that I am lucky that I do like going to the doctor and never seeing a bill (until i do my taxes). I have never been really sick and had to go on a waiting list for months to get cancer treatment or 5 months to get cataract treatment. As a healthy person , the most I have had to endure for minor ailments are long waiting room times and waiting months for specialist appointments for noncritical issues(I would have to wait even if it was somewhat urgent). So yes, where I'm at right now it does the job. But on the other side the problems that are highlighted in the news relating to universal health care are very real . It is definitely not a perfect system. It will be good for the people who have nothing but if you already have insurance I would bet that you will either loose it because your company will cancel the policy( why wouldn't they) or the level of service will deteriorate.

My advice , tell your politicians to take some time and do it right. Actually read what is in the document , inprove it, keep the lawyers out as much as possible, and then get on with it and fix it.

Sorry about the rambling, just my 2 cents.

Have a good day Paul ,

Kurt

One more story I can share. Friends or ours, there son had a traumatic brain injury last month . The local hospital in Windsor did not have the specialist to deal with the injury here so in this case the child was rushed to a hospital in Detroit. After several weeks with the best care anyone could ever wish for the child was sent back to Canada to continue recovery when it was deemed safe. When something like this happens , The government plan will pay for the US care with no expense to the family ,aside from living expenses. But what happens when the child is sent home is a different story . Now the family has to fight with our local hospital and government beaurocracy to get more than the 15 minutes of therapy he was now getting. This child deserves more but there are no alternatives for him in our system . Like I said , it's a great plan if your not really sick."

This letter scares the hell out of me as should it any person who reads it!

What my Canadian friend may or may not know is that while the "American" health care system may seem dramatically better, it's not.
Our health care system is not doing to well it's self!
The "great care" Kurt spoke of is wonderful "IF" you have insurance (or lots of money) and if your insurance provider will pay for it!
There have literally been thousands of instances where an insurance company had DENIED life saving care based on the cost of that care.
It did not matter that the patient would die without the care (many have) it only mattered that the cost of that care was to great.
Currently Americans (especially senior citizens) will go across the border to Canada or Mexico to get their prescription drugs!
Why?
Because they can get them at HALF of what it would cost them at home!
Remember theses are AMERICAN drugs, that are manufactured here in the United States!
As you can see our system leaves a hell of a lot to be desired.
I believe there are 3 things to blame here.

1. Americans. we have allowed the system to get out of control!

2. Politicians. there have been Presidents, congress people and senators, both Republicans & Democrats, for the past 50 years that have known about the health care problem, but NONE of them have been able to effect any real change.

3. Insurance companies & Hospitals.
There are some good and decent Insurance companies and Hospitals out there.
Unfortunately a large percentage of the insurance companies have set up an adversarial system that pits them against the people seeking care.
Insurance companies also continually push doctors & Hospitals to deny and cut services any where they can, all for the sake of Cost.
Some hospitals have actually gotten so greedy that they routinely deny or give inadequate care to people with out insurance and a few hospitals have actually been caught "dumping" homeless & low income people on the streets in HOSPITALS GOWNS!
This is of course against Federal law, but only if they get caught.

So it's abundantly clear that we need change and sooner rather than latter!

Not so fast.

President Obama (who I voted for) is proposing massive changes to our health care system that will impact all American's lives for years (maybe decades) to come.
Sounds great right?

Maybe not so much.
I agree we need change and I like some of the Presidents suggestions but the one scary thing the President is pushing is a very quick time line!
President Obama wanted a vote on a giant health care overhaul bill by this August, when the Government takes the Summer break!
We as Americans are looking at the most profound change in the American health care system in 50 years, a change which will impact our lives for a very, very long time and we have to do this RIGHT NOW?
I agree that we can not wait much longer for a significant change in our health care system but shouldn't we do what Americans do best?
Debate this! Talk about this at length, have several types of ideals to choose from!
I voted for President Obama, but I do not trust him, nor do I trust ANY politician!
As an American, it is a long standing tradition to not trust our Government.
The United States was founded on the distrust of all things political.
Pardon me if I don't trust a government that as an institution, has acted in it's own self interest many times in it's history and Usually at the expense of it's people.
As of January 1, 2009, Canada's population was an estimated 33,504,700 (less than California).
The current U.S.A. population is over 300 million people (303,500,000 in early 2008)
If the Canadian Government can't get a good universal system to function well for 33 million Canadians in over 30 years then how will our very efficient (sarcasm) government be able to it with 300 million people in a few months?
We need change, soon.
We need to be very careful what we wish for, we may just get it.

Are Gay People Heterophopic?

This particular subject has been on my mind for quite awhile but an issue came up last month that really brought this to the forefront for me.
let me start by explaining what I mean by Heterophobic.
Heterophobia is essentially the same type of phobia as Homophobia, meaning the fear, hatred & outright biased of anything to do with homosexuality but in this case it's anything to do with heterosexuality or Straight people.
In this article I will not be posting ANY names of people and business because in some cases the people were never identified and in others there is no need to drag the Business or the people through the mud again.
The issue that brought this to head for me involved a local business in Albuquerque.
It seems from what I was able to learn was that a person (never identified) from the Local Pride parade staff went to this popular restaurant and spoke to a manager (never clearly identified) and asked for a donation for the Pride Parade.
The manager in question was said to refuse the offer to donate and when pressed as to why they wouldn't donate was reported to say (quoting from memory) "We tolerate you people every year the second Saturday in June what else do you want?"
This sentence prompted the pride committee to post this Statement on their blog that afternoon and to take the business to task.
Now taken on face value I was a little offended myself but there was somethings wrong from the beginning.
First, the person in question from the pride committee was NEVER identified, also the managers name was not verified as having actually said this particular statement.
What followed was what could be best described as a which hunt and conviction without trial.
I personally received a few calls from friends telling me about this incident.
My friends were a lot less critical than the Gay community at large.
I went to the Pride web site and watched as the gay community as a whole piled on and eventually called for a boycott of the business in question.
Despite a few calls from myself and several others for more facts than just here say an innuendo, the witch hunt progressed forward with a life of it's own.
This all occurred over the space of a few days.
What eventually happened was the the local owners of the restaurant, having a generally good relationship with the WHOLE community at large and not wanting to jeopardize their business, printed a small article in a local newspaper that serves the University area where the pride parade goes through.
They apologized for any misunderstandings and once again pledged their full support for the entire Community at large.
This was done on their part without anyone actually proving what was said or who said it.
The point? we in the GLBT (who I have refereed to somewhat inaccurately as the "gay community") are all to quick to condemn any person, government agency, business or individual who is straight and says or does ANYTHING contrary to what we perceive as the correct response.
I have watched this cultural phenomenon progress to the point that I believe we are the MOST sensitive sub culture in the United States.
I understand that the Gay community as a whole has been persecuted and denied rights that other people take for granted but I believe it is a tremendous mistake to automatically assume that anything said or done by straight people has to be suspect.
The gay community is always striving and looking for equality and wants to be treated fairly and justly.
If this is the case then we may want to show some of that understanding and compassion back to Straight society, because if we continue to show the same Heterosexual intolerance and outright hatred I have observed then we are no better than the people we condemn.

Bad Economy?

With all the news of our economy being in bad shape most of us have had our minds on our money and how to spend it wisely.
I recently needed to shop around for a water heater for our house and since it's a special sealed combustion type it was going to cost a lot of money.
so as a good little consumer I started checking out the prices of water heaters and prices for installation for the unit on line.
Once I had a fairly good ideal how much money was involved I began to look for a plumber to do the installation.
It turned out to be much harder than i had thought!
You would think with people loosing their jobs and money being tight that customer service would be the one thing that most businesses would try to do better at than any other thing they could do.
Unfortunately I found out this was not the case.
I called about 25 plumbers and even put my job on a web site that connects local people with services and the response I go back?
I got a total of 5 plumbers that responded! FIVE out of all those calls and internet inquires!
Most of the plumbers were a little less than enthusiastic about doing the job.
I was frankly dumbfounded that I could not get anyone to do the job!
I did eventually find someone to do the job and they turned out to be a great plumber but this experience has tainted me for sometime to come.
It seems fairly obvious to me that a lot of these people didn't want to work and i can only hope that the millions of Americans that are out of work will step in to the jobs that some people don't want.
Paul

New Blog

By now you have probably noticed that I have a new blog and you may be asking yourself, what the hell is he doing now?!
The answer is not to complicated I promise.
Simply put I wanted to be able to update my blog from any computer anywhere I'm at and I have really wanted to update much more than I have been doing.
This allows me to do that because it's all "in the cloud" which if you ever heard that term simply means it's web based.
No software is required on my computer except a Internet browser like FireFox, Internet Explorer or any flavor of web browser will work.
There are some small concessions I will have to make, such as the blog is not quite as "pretty" as my last one but I'm hopeful that with time and better content that will mater very little.
So I hope it all works as well as I think it will and I hope all of you will not get tired of me.
Please read and Comment more since there should be a comment link and the bottom of each article!

Technology

Last week I took possession of a new computer.
So what's the big deal?
Well this is no ordinary computer it's an Eee PC and it a small deal.
http://tinyurl.com/2u2dhf
An Eee PC is a new breed of laptop computer called a "netbook".
Almost all manufactures, such as dell, hp, Sony etc. make these computers.
Simply put netbooks are mini laptops.
The netbook I bought has a 8.9in screen and weighs under 2lbs.
These small computers are mainly designed to be used for what 80% of the general public uses their laptops for, surfing the Internet, checking e-mail and occasionally some light office work.
Netbooks are perfect for medium to casual use, there extremely portable and very affordable.
I would have bought an Apple netbook but the one small problem with that is they don't make one!
Apple doesn't want to get into the "low end" market.
That's very sad because I think that Apple could do a brilliant netbook just like they did with their mac books!
If you decide to buy a netbook you will be pleasantly surprised at the price.
My net book cost $179.00!
The most expensive netbooks cost around $399 but on average they go for around $200.00 so your not going to have to spend a lot to get one.
I have told you the pros on a netbooks now for the con's.
Netbooks are small by their nature, maybe to small for some people.
Small translates into a small keyboard & small track pad, also there is no DVD drive on the computer but you can plug one into one of the 3 usb ports it has.
Netbooks also usually have very small hard drives and not a lot of memory.
They are full featured computers but just a light duty variety.
Think small car vs a Large one.
The both do the same thing but in different ways.
These tiny notebooks are not for everybody but for a small (sorry) portion of the public, they will fit the bill nicely!