I want to rant about taxes, and how the government can't do it all, and how we should quit expecting government to provide for everybody, and just do it ourselves.
I really think that this economic downturn should be an opportunity for government bodies at various levels to rethink their mission(s) and redo their budgets to fund only those things which are most important for a government to do. I cannot imagine roads being build by anyone else but larger governmental units (federal, state, and county, mainly) but art in public places, definitely a function that non-government entities should handle. Education for all children must be government funded, since private funding would lead to only the rich being able to send their kids to good schools and the poorest kids being not sent to school at all (and lets not talk about how that is the case right now, okay) but does the government need to fund medical research directly. Is that the best way to spend our tax dollars? Parks are a definite plus for communities, but could some of the costs be bourne by volunteers and/or corporate groups. Fire and police protection is a definite government function. Just remember the hooplah when some poor sucker didn't pay his fire tax (where it was voluntary) so the fire department let his house burn down. Sorry, but that sort of payment should not, cannot be, voluntary. Everybody needs fire and police protection, taxpayers must provide it.
Well, I could go one, and I will, at a later date.
Chow. (I was so surprised to find out that that is really spelled C-I-A-O, or something. No fair, English language and borrowed phrases.)
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Unemployment compensation and other backfires
Unemployment insurance is designed to help someone who has lost his/her job by providing some income to partially replace that which was lost when the job was lost. L&I insurance works on a similar principal, if one can no longer work at one's job because of a job-related injury, L&I insurance provides some income to replace the lost wages. This seems to be a no-brainer: it is good, right. We should continue to provide unemployment payments to the unemployed until the economy recovers and everybody is back to work.
ONLY, in no case will "everybody" be back to work. There are always unemployed persons. We measure a recession by the percentage of people looking for work who cannot find it RIGHT NOW, and lower numbers are better. Ten percent, bad. Five percent good. Four percent, great. But that still means out of 100 workers, four are currently unemployed. And in some L&I situations, the worker will NEVER be able to return to the job he/she held before the injury. NEVER.
Still, it seems that as soon as the unemployment payments run out, the person finds work. I know in my case, I was unemployed for about four months when my children were little. In my case, I did not have unemployment insurance, but had money enough to live on for four months before it ran out. Just as this money (from the sale of a house) ran out, I received not one, but two, job offers. I had my choice. Despite looking "full time" for four months, I received NO job offers until the funds dried up, then I received two very nice, very desirable job offers. Hmm.
I think it is like this. Losing a job is like losing your house to a fire or flood. It is like having a spouse die unexpectedly. It is like losing an arm or leg in a horrible accident. It is awful. You mourn. You try to get it back. You cry. You curse the fates. You stay in bed under the covers and read bad mysteries. You gossip with likeminded people about how unfair it all is. But finally, at some point, you should move on.
Elizabeth Kuebler-Ross (check name and reference) outlined the five steps that dying people go through, DABDA: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. But, because the people she studied were dying, she missed the last step, the one that the dead don't have to take in our world. The step of moving on. It becomes DABDAM.
Many confuse acceptance with moving on. They are two really different things. Acceptance is "I am going to die, here's what I want at my funeral, here's who should have my most valuable possessions." Acceptance is "Our new house isn't so bad really", "I'm giving away his clothes so someone else can use them", "The doctor says I can wear slacks, and no one will ever know I have a prosthesis". Acceptance is good, it is necessary, it is important.
There needs to be a further step if one is to live the full and rich life that one deserves. You must MOVE ON. Moving on is beyond acceptance. It comes (well, it came for me) when I realized that I could no longer imagine what my life would have been like if I hadn't lost (in my case) my infant son. Moving on is "I finally get to have that craft room I always wanted", "I'm going back to school to learn to be a (fill in the blank) because (fill in the blank)", "I'm helping the therapist design a prosthesis which will enable me to (fill in the blank); they don't think it has ever been done before."
Moving on is embracing the new direction your life has taken, even if it wasn't the direction you had thought you were heading prior to the incident which lead to DABDAM. It is not denial. It is not forgetting, or even forgiving (which people might be urging you to do in the case of divorce, for instance.) Acceptance is standing by waving as the train you thought you were going to take departs for the vacation you won't ever have now. Moving on is getting onto a bus to another destination entirely.
Unemployment insurance and L&I insurance basically are designed to provide an income for the DABDA part of DABDAM, and perhaps provide some bus fare for the new destination. If it lasts too long, it can feed the acceptance, and never provide a push to move on. As long as I have an income, why should I look for a job in a different field entirely, which I don't know anything about. As long as I have an income, I can just keep looking for a replacement for the old job, and not even see the opportunities out there for other endeavors that WILL NOT REPLACE the old job, but which will provide an income and a career which is also suitable to my skills and temperament.
In the "olden" days, death lead to a specific length of mourning for the survivors. Cousin meant black gloves for such and such a period of time, parent meant black garmets for such and so, and the death of a spouse was marked by black clothing and no parties for six months, followed by "half-mourning" dark purples and no dancing for an additional six months. At the end of the year, you might mark the occasion in some way-visiting the grave, purchasing a new outfit, etc. At the end of the year, you were expected to "suck it up", put off your blacks, and get on with your life.
In modern times, we have forgotten these old, basically helpful rules. We allow people to wallow in their misery. Lawyers promise to provide money to restore us to what we were before the flood/fire/coffee spill. UI and L&I provide an income so we can have a mourning period for our lost job, and perhaps lost career.
But in the end, we are adults. The unemployed need to suck it up, put off their misery, and get on with their lives. If this means working in a convenience store for minimum wage for the rest of their lives, well then they probably didn't have what it actually takes to be employed at their old jobs, and would have been fired sooner or later anyway.
I have no sympathy. I knew a guy who fell off a building in the course of his employment and ended up completely paralized except for some movement in one hand. His wife had to take care of his every physical need. He sold insurance or stocks or something over the telephone (this was before the internet), and they were making it, they were earning a living and taking care of each others needs. Another story I heard about was a navy doctor who was an intern or something, and got polio and wound up unable to sit or stand. Since he had not completed his residency, he thought about what kind of a doctor he could be when he couldn't even stand up himself unassisted. So he became a psychiatrist. Yet another man lost an arm and leg or so in a horrific automobile crash, made worse by the fact that he was very drunk at the time. He became a crusader for telling new drivers about the dangers of driving after drinking. I remember him saying, I can't imagine what my life would have been like if I still had two arms and two legs. I love my wife, my kids are fantastic, I have a job I love. Would I have gotten these great things in my life if I hadn't been in that crash? I wouldn't want it any other way.
So let's not be too quick to extend unemployment benefits, increase L&I payments, and make it "easier" for those "poor" "unfortunate" to wallow in their misery. See I just saved the government (read taxpayers) a ton of money.
Wow, that's a load off my mind and into this blog.
ONLY, in no case will "everybody" be back to work. There are always unemployed persons. We measure a recession by the percentage of people looking for work who cannot find it RIGHT NOW, and lower numbers are better. Ten percent, bad. Five percent good. Four percent, great. But that still means out of 100 workers, four are currently unemployed. And in some L&I situations, the worker will NEVER be able to return to the job he/she held before the injury. NEVER.
Still, it seems that as soon as the unemployment payments run out, the person finds work. I know in my case, I was unemployed for about four months when my children were little. In my case, I did not have unemployment insurance, but had money enough to live on for four months before it ran out. Just as this money (from the sale of a house) ran out, I received not one, but two, job offers. I had my choice. Despite looking "full time" for four months, I received NO job offers until the funds dried up, then I received two very nice, very desirable job offers. Hmm.
I think it is like this. Losing a job is like losing your house to a fire or flood. It is like having a spouse die unexpectedly. It is like losing an arm or leg in a horrible accident. It is awful. You mourn. You try to get it back. You cry. You curse the fates. You stay in bed under the covers and read bad mysteries. You gossip with likeminded people about how unfair it all is. But finally, at some point, you should move on.
Elizabeth Kuebler-Ross (check name and reference) outlined the five steps that dying people go through, DABDA: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. But, because the people she studied were dying, she missed the last step, the one that the dead don't have to take in our world. The step of moving on. It becomes DABDAM.
Many confuse acceptance with moving on. They are two really different things. Acceptance is "I am going to die, here's what I want at my funeral, here's who should have my most valuable possessions." Acceptance is "Our new house isn't so bad really", "I'm giving away his clothes so someone else can use them", "The doctor says I can wear slacks, and no one will ever know I have a prosthesis". Acceptance is good, it is necessary, it is important.
There needs to be a further step if one is to live the full and rich life that one deserves. You must MOVE ON. Moving on is beyond acceptance. It comes (well, it came for me) when I realized that I could no longer imagine what my life would have been like if I hadn't lost (in my case) my infant son. Moving on is "I finally get to have that craft room I always wanted", "I'm going back to school to learn to be a (fill in the blank) because (fill in the blank)", "I'm helping the therapist design a prosthesis which will enable me to (fill in the blank); they don't think it has ever been done before."
Moving on is embracing the new direction your life has taken, even if it wasn't the direction you had thought you were heading prior to the incident which lead to DABDAM. It is not denial. It is not forgetting, or even forgiving (which people might be urging you to do in the case of divorce, for instance.) Acceptance is standing by waving as the train you thought you were going to take departs for the vacation you won't ever have now. Moving on is getting onto a bus to another destination entirely.
Unemployment insurance and L&I insurance basically are designed to provide an income for the DABDA part of DABDAM, and perhaps provide some bus fare for the new destination. If it lasts too long, it can feed the acceptance, and never provide a push to move on. As long as I have an income, why should I look for a job in a different field entirely, which I don't know anything about. As long as I have an income, I can just keep looking for a replacement for the old job, and not even see the opportunities out there for other endeavors that WILL NOT REPLACE the old job, but which will provide an income and a career which is also suitable to my skills and temperament.
In the "olden" days, death lead to a specific length of mourning for the survivors. Cousin meant black gloves for such and such a period of time, parent meant black garmets for such and so, and the death of a spouse was marked by black clothing and no parties for six months, followed by "half-mourning" dark purples and no dancing for an additional six months. At the end of the year, you might mark the occasion in some way-visiting the grave, purchasing a new outfit, etc. At the end of the year, you were expected to "suck it up", put off your blacks, and get on with your life.
In modern times, we have forgotten these old, basically helpful rules. We allow people to wallow in their misery. Lawyers promise to provide money to restore us to what we were before the flood/fire/coffee spill. UI and L&I provide an income so we can have a mourning period for our lost job, and perhaps lost career.
But in the end, we are adults. The unemployed need to suck it up, put off their misery, and get on with their lives. If this means working in a convenience store for minimum wage for the rest of their lives, well then they probably didn't have what it actually takes to be employed at their old jobs, and would have been fired sooner or later anyway.
I have no sympathy. I knew a guy who fell off a building in the course of his employment and ended up completely paralized except for some movement in one hand. His wife had to take care of his every physical need. He sold insurance or stocks or something over the telephone (this was before the internet), and they were making it, they were earning a living and taking care of each others needs. Another story I heard about was a navy doctor who was an intern or something, and got polio and wound up unable to sit or stand. Since he had not completed his residency, he thought about what kind of a doctor he could be when he couldn't even stand up himself unassisted. So he became a psychiatrist. Yet another man lost an arm and leg or so in a horrific automobile crash, made worse by the fact that he was very drunk at the time. He became a crusader for telling new drivers about the dangers of driving after drinking. I remember him saying, I can't imagine what my life would have been like if I still had two arms and two legs. I love my wife, my kids are fantastic, I have a job I love. Would I have gotten these great things in my life if I hadn't been in that crash? I wouldn't want it any other way.
So let's not be too quick to extend unemployment benefits, increase L&I payments, and make it "easier" for those "poor" "unfortunate" to wallow in their misery. See I just saved the government (read taxpayers) a ton of money.
Wow, that's a load off my mind and into this blog.
Update on medication and other joys
The doctor prescribed a different, but similar, antidepressant. She said to wean myself off the Zoloft in (I think) six days, then start the other. So I weaned myself off, and never started the other. I have the meds, but have not taken them. Hey I'm feeling good, and antidepressants are for "not feeling so good".
She also prescribed a nasal spray, and guess what, I no longer have a slight cough and nagging headache all the time. Wow, who knew.
Followup tomorrow.
She also prescribed a nasal spray, and guess what, I no longer have a slight cough and nagging headache all the time. Wow, who knew.
Followup tomorrow.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Going to visit doctor
I hemmed and hawed about a visit to the doctor in December, then put it off too long and we were off the CA.
Promised I would make an appointment as soon as we got back. Apparently "as soon as" is defined as a week or so later. I did make the appointment. Will go tomorrow.
Will read over blog posts before that to refresh meself on the timeline.
Promised I would make an appointment as soon as we got back. Apparently "as soon as" is defined as a week or so later. I did make the appointment. Will go tomorrow.
Will read over blog posts before that to refresh meself on the timeline.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
More medication issues
I am keeping track in this blog about the medication, so I have somewhere to consult, and find out what happens when. So I thought I'd better make a note of this:
When we got home from California (Tuesday March 1, 2011) I did not take any pills for two days (Tues and Wed, or maybe Wed and Thurs, no probably Tues and Wed). Anyway, I was in such a funk from Tues until Friday. It was miserable. I was afraid to even let Nick touch me, lest I burst into tears. Poor guy, he didn't know what to do.
I wasn't going to leave the house, although I did several times, but not as much as I usually would. I just wanted to stay home, and not talk to anybody. But I was irritated that Nick went upstairs to work on the computer, and I didn't hear from him for like five or six hours. I just didn't know where to start, so I put about six or eight major jobs in a glass jar, and started drawing out things to do. The first day, I cleaned out the pantry, and got rid of some stuff and reorganized other stuff. Including going through cookbooks, and getting rid of some (Goodwill).
The next day, I drew upstairs closets, so I tore into my closet, discarded two entirely full bags of clothes, and also sorted through the kids bedroom closet, except for the pictures, which are a separate project. We probably have an entire van-load of stuff to take to Goodwill. The next day was Friday so I didn't do anything but finish up from the day before, and now that I'm feeling better, I'm feeling less like doing this stuff.
Maybe part of it is that the next thing I drew: Kitchen cabinets, aren't really much of a problem. We could probably get rid of half our pots and empty some drawers, but we still have room for stuff, so why bother. I think I'll just throw that one away, and draw another.
I just thought now, that I should add my sewing projects to the jar. And knitting. At least the ones that bug me. Then I would have the chance of spending time one day just working on projects. That's a good idea.
Another health "Update" although I haven't mentioned this before. The noise in my ears is getting louder. I hear it all the time, and it makes it hard to hear other stuff sometimes. I can hear my blood pumping through when I lay down to sleep and other times too. It is very annoying.
When we got home from California (Tuesday March 1, 2011) I did not take any pills for two days (Tues and Wed, or maybe Wed and Thurs, no probably Tues and Wed). Anyway, I was in such a funk from Tues until Friday. It was miserable. I was afraid to even let Nick touch me, lest I burst into tears. Poor guy, he didn't know what to do.
I wasn't going to leave the house, although I did several times, but not as much as I usually would. I just wanted to stay home, and not talk to anybody. But I was irritated that Nick went upstairs to work on the computer, and I didn't hear from him for like five or six hours. I just didn't know where to start, so I put about six or eight major jobs in a glass jar, and started drawing out things to do. The first day, I cleaned out the pantry, and got rid of some stuff and reorganized other stuff. Including going through cookbooks, and getting rid of some (Goodwill).
The next day, I drew upstairs closets, so I tore into my closet, discarded two entirely full bags of clothes, and also sorted through the kids bedroom closet, except for the pictures, which are a separate project. We probably have an entire van-load of stuff to take to Goodwill. The next day was Friday so I didn't do anything but finish up from the day before, and now that I'm feeling better, I'm feeling less like doing this stuff.
Maybe part of it is that the next thing I drew: Kitchen cabinets, aren't really much of a problem. We could probably get rid of half our pots and empty some drawers, but we still have room for stuff, so why bother. I think I'll just throw that one away, and draw another.
I just thought now, that I should add my sewing projects to the jar. And knitting. At least the ones that bug me. Then I would have the chance of spending time one day just working on projects. That's a good idea.
Another health "Update" although I haven't mentioned this before. The noise in my ears is getting louder. I hear it all the time, and it makes it hard to hear other stuff sometimes. I can hear my blood pumping through when I lay down to sleep and other times too. It is very annoying.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
General complaints
I don't know why, but most of the time I was in California, I only wanted to go home. Yet I was having a good time, and doing things I loved. I think it's the medication, not working quite as well as it should.
Now that we are in Oregon, I am in no hurry to get home. I wonder why we did not go to Texas (oh yes, Nick was worried about finding a place to stay in Arizona). I really want to go somewhere else. "As a rule a man's a fool...".
I have really been thinking all day that I do not want to go home. I don't like the house, I don't like the work I should be doing, I don't like living there. I don't want to go home. I am dreading it.
Yet in California, I felt much less strongly about not likeing the house, and more strongly about maybe, not haveing a definite plan, being undecided, not going to Texas, but doing what else? I felt restless. That "is that all there is to a fire?" sort of feeling.
It's driving me crazy. I just want to enjoy life. And I do, for the most part.
Update on depression: it is not so bad, unless this "want to go home, don't want to go home" is symptomatic. I had a good time today on the walk. About halfway through I was starving, so we got some girl scout cookies from in front of a store, and that took care of the problem. I find that I do not recognize hunger coming on, just when it is that I have to eat NOW feeling.
It is too quiet here, and I am out of podcasts. I really don't know how Nick doeosn't want music or somehting, but maybe he doesn't have the noise in his head like I do, and maybe also he is either reading or on the computer concentrating on that. Whereas, I am sewing or spinning or knitting, and I have lots and lots of time to think. Maybe that is the whole problem, too much time to think.
Now that we are in Oregon, I am in no hurry to get home. I wonder why we did not go to Texas (oh yes, Nick was worried about finding a place to stay in Arizona). I really want to go somewhere else. "As a rule a man's a fool...".
I have really been thinking all day that I do not want to go home. I don't like the house, I don't like the work I should be doing, I don't like living there. I don't want to go home. I am dreading it.
Yet in California, I felt much less strongly about not likeing the house, and more strongly about maybe, not haveing a definite plan, being undecided, not going to Texas, but doing what else? I felt restless. That "is that all there is to a fire?" sort of feeling.
It's driving me crazy. I just want to enjoy life. And I do, for the most part.
Update on depression: it is not so bad, unless this "want to go home, don't want to go home" is symptomatic. I had a good time today on the walk. About halfway through I was starving, so we got some girl scout cookies from in front of a store, and that took care of the problem. I find that I do not recognize hunger coming on, just when it is that I have to eat NOW feeling.
It is too quiet here, and I am out of podcasts. I really don't know how Nick doeosn't want music or somehting, but maybe he doesn't have the noise in his head like I do, and maybe also he is either reading or on the computer concentrating on that. Whereas, I am sewing or spinning or knitting, and I have lots and lots of time to think. Maybe that is the whole problem, too much time to think.
Monday, February 21, 2011
More good news
I have been taking the two pills for almost a week now, if my calculations are correct. And I haven't had a really bad day. So I think the dosage is working.
Plus, I worked on the Cat quilt today, fixed one cat's ear, and sewed the three cats together. One of them still needs a tail, and then I will be ready to start sewing on the borders. Hooray.
Meanwhile, at the laundromat, I finished up the strap on the little bag that I am knitting. Now I have to weave in ends and that is complete.
Plus I worked on another Mother Bear bear for the charity I am supporting. Must be done and posted on Ravelry by March 1, which is next Tuesday???? I need to consult a calendar. I wound the yarn and found the needles, so I am close to casting on for my next project, Ice Queen. So progress, more progress, lots of things getting accomplished.
And I keep up with the dishes nearly every day. We don't vacuum often enough, but I do wash the shower once or twice a week, and clean the toilet fairly often. So I should also give myself credit for keeping up with that sort of stuff. Oh and I took out the garbage yesterday, without even being asked, or Nick even knowing. He usually does that chore, but heck, I can do it once in a while.
So, I'm feeling good. I'm getting stuff done. And I'm enjoying myself. Everything is working fine right now.
Check!
Plus, I worked on the Cat quilt today, fixed one cat's ear, and sewed the three cats together. One of them still needs a tail, and then I will be ready to start sewing on the borders. Hooray.
Meanwhile, at the laundromat, I finished up the strap on the little bag that I am knitting. Now I have to weave in ends and that is complete.
Plus I worked on another Mother Bear bear for the charity I am supporting. Must be done and posted on Ravelry by March 1, which is next Tuesday???? I need to consult a calendar. I wound the yarn and found the needles, so I am close to casting on for my next project, Ice Queen. So progress, more progress, lots of things getting accomplished.
And I keep up with the dishes nearly every day. We don't vacuum often enough, but I do wash the shower once or twice a week, and clean the toilet fairly often. So I should also give myself credit for keeping up with that sort of stuff. Oh and I took out the garbage yesterday, without even being asked, or Nick even knowing. He usually does that chore, but heck, I can do it once in a while.
So, I'm feeling good. I'm getting stuff done. And I'm enjoying myself. Everything is working fine right now.
Check!
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