Have you ever tried to use PayPal when you can't remember what friggin' email you used, let alone password. Trust me it sucks. Took me over a hour to figure this out. Grrr...

In the meantime I have an ex just call me to tell me all about his trip for 20 days to the Phillipines. Oh boy. He has a bad cold and didn't appreciate it when I told him he probably has SARs. He's so gullible.

Governor Asks Former Iowans To Come Home

Tell you what Babe..you pack me up, move me, guarantee me even 75% 80% of my current salary, I'd be on my way. Ok, ok..I'll pack the crap up myself and pay for the move...but I'm not carrying the furniture.

Well it seems like every news site I've looked at today is telling the world that older women are looking for younger men.

I don't think we are out there looking for them but I believe younger men have some preconceived notions about older women and therefore pursue older women more than you can imagine.

Some of those preconceived notions:
All the surveys about sex being more enjoyable for women in their 30's, 40's...I can't speak for higher, but that's not a myth, that's true. For all you younger women believe it or not...it gets even better.

There is alot less stress and tension about where the relationship is going to go, like marriage and a family. Most of us have been there done that and don't want to go back. A lot less drama.

I think they think we are desperate. Hell maybe we are. I'll end that one here.

My mother married a man 12 years younger than she was. I was a teen at the time I remember thinking she was nuts and in fact I about died (so I thought) of embarrassment. They were very happily married for about 19 years before he was tragically killed in a car accident.

So I figured if good old Mom could do it I could, so I dated a man 8 years younger than myself for about 3 months. It was interesting to say the least but I really didn't feel I had anything in common with him...and I felt like I was robbing the cradle.

So that's my two cents worth on the whole subject.

Is the name of the rock band that was planning to show a "live suicide" on stage during their concert in St. Petersburg.

The hard-rock band Hell on Earth had said that a suicide by a terminally ill person would take place during a concert Saturday to raise awareness of right-to-die issues.

The theaters owner cancelled the circus and it seems they are having trouble booking the gig but

Band leader Billy Tourtelot has vowed that the concert and suicide will still take place at an undisclosed location in the city, broadcast live on the band's Web site.

"This show is far more than a typical Hell On Earth performance," Tourtelot said in an e-mail last week. "This is about standing up for what you believe in, and I am a strong supporter of physician-assisted suicide."

Apparently assisting in a suicide is a felony and a manslaughter charge. I wonder if he's willing to go to jail for his beliefs? I bet not.

Check it out.

**Update: Hell on Earth website.

Where the hell did the warm air go? I heard there is a chance for snow flurries on Wednesday...this can not be. I am not ready.

Did anybody else notice the sun was setting way too far to the south tonight when I was driving home from work? That I have to turn my lights on when I walk in the apartment now? Well I noticed...and I'm not liking it.

I watched a show on a some science channel yesterday afternoon about blizzards. I couldn't take more than 15 minutes of it. Bitter cold, wind making snow feel like sand on your face, sliding off the road, frostbite,..shoveling.

The four months of warm weather makes up for it right? HELL NO.

I must be nuts.

I can't think of a better place to start reading blogs today then here:

How do you like that nifty little image? There is definitely no one out there that can take a walk through the world of blogs like Kelley of Suburban Blight .

To quote her on the current Cul-De-Sac:

126 blogs, 101 trackback pings, and over 140 individual posts are included in this week's effort.

That's alot of effort and work, check it out for yourself.

I've read alot online lately about gun control. I am definitely for the right to bear arms. We can not put laws into place to prevent fools from being fools. Fools exist in every country, every city, every block in the neighborhood.

I was shot by a fool when I was 19. Then again, I was in a place where fools tend to gather. A bar. The drinking age at that time was 18 and every weekend was bar night. The name of the bar was SteveBo's, one of those neighborhood bars with a couple of pool tables, good music on the juke box, no old fogies to torment you.

It was around 10pm I was playing pool with a group of friends when Steve the owner came in. He was obviously very drunk and who knows what else he had been doing. Well for some reason out of all those people he spots me and decided I need to dance for him. I told him to go to hell and continued to play pool, doing my best to ignore him. Then I notice the pool table area starts clearing out rapidly - then I notice Steve standing there with a gun.

Again he told me to dance or he was going to shoot me. Well the way people were flying out of the bar, including his friends I assumed he meant business. I've said before I'm a stubborn bitch and when I'm threatened I do not act rationally. I put my stick down took a step at him and said "fuck you". He shot me in the leg, which at the time I didn't know he did. He didn't either, he thought he shot at the floor. Again he said "dance". About that time I felt something very wet running down my leg and seen the blood pooling under the cuff of my jeans.

At this point Steve went nuts and started yelling "I can't believe I shot you!" Well duh. Luckily he only took off a junk a skin off my calf and put a hole in my favorite jeans.

Well I left the bar naturally with Steve yelling at me as I left that I have free drinks for the rest of my life. Yeah right fool, like I would ever go back there again.

About 5 years after that, Steve was shot and killed in another bar. Shot point blank in the chest...the man who shot him never had charges filed against him. Who knows what went down.

I'm voting for King of Fools Caucasian Club , it's an excellent read.

Just scroll down until you find it.

When I read this post by Tiger...I thought wow, this is my life. Those lyrics:

I don't pick up the mail, I don't pick up the phone

As quietly as a mouse I haunt these halls

I don't feel depressed, I don't feel sad. I just feel like I'm doing time. I've loved, I've laughed, I've cried and life keeps moving on. I had a 20 year marriage, I've had my kids, I've had my career.

The last five years I've had two relationships that could of gone long term, but it was like putting in time with them also. When I first separated and filed for divorce I could not imagine living life alone, without love...hell without sex. Over the last seven years my priorities have changed. I have no fucking clue what they are, but I guess part of me knows what they aren't.

Tiger writes:

I have thought about seeing a doctor, but then I would be saying something is wrong with me for feeling this way, and I don't think there is anything wrong with me for feeling this way. In fact, I think I am feeling exactly like any normal person would feel who has lived through the kind of life I have had so far.

I think he's right. In the meanwhile I'll do my time and see what happens.

Now I've said before how it doesn't take much for me to buy into a conspiracy theory. I haven't heard any about the blackouts, but isn't it just a little odd that 3 countries have had major blackouts within the last 6 weeks?

Italy is blaming France. I think we all should. France hasn't had a blackout, but they did have the big checkout. What was it..13 or 14,000? Ok, maybe we should blame Germany.

Check it out.

Finally there has been a study done that will give many of us relieve from all those "other" people who have halitosis. God bless the Good Housekeeping Institute for finding out the answer to an age old problem.

Now I don't know about you, but my candy jar in my office is going to be filled with these bad boys. Not that I'll ever need it of course. Just those other people.

Check out the results of the study.

Yes I did. I finally contacted Joni about doing something to change my site. I hope she survives me. I went whoa! had a little trouble answering those questions.

I'm sure she will be shaking her head when she reads the answer for: Do you use php or HTML? My intelligent answer to this question: Huh? I wanted to answer a Dell...but knew that was probably not what she was looking for.

I suppose the answer to the question :What platform do I use?" was not "a soapbox" either. I had to think about it awhile, I hope the correct answer was Windows XP?

God, I hope she don't dump me. I know if I was her I'd be reading my letter thinking "this woman is too stupid for words."

Isn't it scarey that people like me can even have a blog?

One of my favorite bands of all time was a little known band called Mason Proffit. I really didn't discover them until about the time they were disbanding. I did get to see John and Terry Talbot in concert around '75. They played a few of their old stuff, but mostly new. It was good, but I was disappointed.

Here is a listing of their recordings. I can't find alot about them on the net but did find some old reviews here , apparently a couple of other people feel the same way I did.

I have all of there stuff on LP's, lot a good it does me since I don't have a turn table..but I'm not giving them up. I see a couple of them with a current bid on Amazon of $35.

Anyway..if you ever get a chance, listen to Eugene Pratt and Two Hangmen.

I can't remember a time without the Beatles. My very first 45 was the Beatles "I Wanna Hold Your Hand". I can't think of all the music I've owned and listened to over the years, the Beatles still have an enormous impact.

Some of my favorites:

Don't Let Me Down

Golden Slumbers is what I sang to my babies.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps , I think the lyrics and the music got George by on this one. His voice was definitely nothing to write home about...but damn he was cute.

She Came in Through the Bathroom Window

Oh Darling, my all time favorite. No one ever liked this song but me.

I have a story about that song. The first time I ever heard it, I was at a party in a friends basement. We were smoking pot, just sitting around doing stoner shit. I was staring at this picture of Jesus hanging on the wall across the room when it fell down and the glass broke. No one says a word for awhile and finally the kid whose house it is says "weird shit man." Funny how I can remember that of all things.

I've never noticed this before, but Google will answer your questions for money if you use Google Answers .

What is absolutely amazing about this is the money people are paying for some relatively easy questions. Check out the questions.

Waking up very early is a double edged sword. I always know I need more sleep but the quiet is heavenly. No people tromping overhead, no cars honking, screeching tires, no sirens, no kids yelling, no neighbors fighting, no big ass bitch screaming into the telephone sitting in her window, no telemarketers. The list could go on.

The rest of the world could be gone, it's that quiet, well for Detroit. When I lived in the country in Iowa it was that way every day. Isolation can be a good thing.

Well now it's 7am and I'm washing my bathroom rugs. With this cheap ass wash machine in this apartment the rest of the building should be waking up any minute now. Do you know how loud a wash machine is that's always out of balance? Heh.

When you live out in the boondocks something like what this man did, is not all that uncommon.

I remember when I first moved out to the boondocks in Iowa I found out about Inez, a little old lady who had to be in her late 60's. Inez lived in a hut about a mile as the crow flies from me. The hut didn't have a door, and actually it was several pieces of sheet metal, some railroad ties and whatever else Inez could find. Her home was actually on the edge of a road ditch, where years ago she claimed squatters rights.

Across the road, her brother Eli did the same thing. His hut was a little bigger, he actually sectioned off rooms being the excellent handyman that he was. His daughter lived with him, who was actually in high school when I first met them.

The county electrical company out of the kindness of their hearts ran them a drop line off a light pole. Inez had one big lightbulb to lighten up her hut. Now Eli had a door on, so I'm not quite sure how he rigged his up.

Inez and Eli always had a huge garden, but other than that, I have no clue what they survived on. Inez was quite chunky, so she obviously had food. Inez lived in her hut for about 3 years after I moved up there until one day her brother found her collapsed. She went to the hospital and straight to the nursing home from there. She didn't survive much longer after that.

As soon as she was admitted to the nursing home, the county came and tore down Inez's hut. Not much longer after that I noticed that Eli had his own light pole with a meter on it. Civilization at it's finest.

Now 20 years later Eli and his daughter still live in that very same hut. Last time I was home I drove by there and they even have a truck and direct TV now. It sits right up on top where the same railroad ties and cement bricks hold the plywood and metal sheeting down for a few decades now. Next time I go back to Iowa I'll take a picture of it.

I never have been able to understand how they survive, Iowa winters are a bitch. People complain about Michigan winters ..hell I'll take them anytime. I remember one winter it was -29 degrees. That's not the windchill. The winds were 40-50 mph that night. Don't believe that BS that when it's that cold it won't snow. Yes it will. We lived in an old farmhouse at that time, and with a wood burner going and a the furnace we couldn't get the temperature above 45 degrees in there.

Inez and Eli survived it in their shacks. Inez was one tough woman.

The internet is totally FUBAR for me this morning. What's up with that? AOL is the only thing I can get to work half way decent. I'm still using the cable modem so it's not that.

I guess I should take it as a sign, give up and go to work.

What's up with this? Has the Instapundit been dethroned? Somehow I doubt that.

Higher Beings
1.c is for (13035) details
2.Instapundit (2024) details
3.Talking Points Memo (1121) details
4.Eschaton (Atrios) (1087) details
5.Daily Kos / Political State Report (1066) details
6.Andrew Sullivan (1019) details
7.Little Green Footballs (921) details
8.CalPundit (909) details
9.USS Clueless (878) details
10.The Truth Laid Bear (867) details ** WMDI **

The Alliance is going to love this one.

What's your Buzzosity ?

Different.

The Sarge is singing us a picture again.

He has an amazing voice. Go look listen to his tune.

Tony always posts the most interesting things. Well this post...I'm not sure if it's the "neatest" thing, but "Flatus Odor Judge" reminds me alot of nursing.

I can't begin to explain how much smell plays a part in nursing. If you've been a doctor or a nurse long enough, somethings you can almost diagnose from smell alone.

Intestinal C. Diff. infection. The most horrific bowel movement odor imaginable that pervades throughout a unit, or a hospital floor. I was doing rounds about 3 weeks ago with one of my nurse managers. As I entered the hall - the smell about knocked me over. I asked her who had diarrhea on her unit. She told me nobody. My response was bullshit - no pun intended- someone has C. Diff. After questioning a couple of the nursing assistants, the patient was pinpointed, and 2 days later verified by lab tests.

A wound with a staph infection...very distinct. Gangrene, horrid, all you have to do is walk near a patient.

Uncontrolled diabetics urine smells just like maple syrup. Just yesterday when I went in early at breakfast time I asked the nurse on a unit I had just passed through if they were having pancakes for breakfast or if we have a new diabetic. Gross I know. Actually it was waffles for breakfast.

I could go on, but I won't. You get the idea.

Tony, I think you have the most informative, interesting blog on the net. No shit. Pun intended.

My bathroom seems to have water seeping up through the floor tiles. This can not be a good thing. To make matters worse when I went to flush the toilet the handle broke off, so now I have to take the lid off to pull the thingie up to flush.

Now I'm sitting here thinking, with my luck, probably sometime in the middle of the night when I'm going to the bathroom the toilet will fall through the floor. God paying me back for laughing so hard at Greg.

I'm sitting here, reading blogs, procrastinating getting ready for work because I have no friggin clue what to wear. Yeah those days happen. Too hot for that, too cool for that, makes my ass look even bigger, too tight on the boobs...better shave my legs for that one. Takes too long to go to the bathroom if I wear that. Have to wear those shoes if I wear this.

Just too damn many decisions. I need to go back to wearing scrubs...life was easier. Get them all color coordinated and then you grab and run. Keep the nail polish neutral..and Ouila! Unless it's one of those scrub tops that make your ass look bigger...but I won't go there.

Tony at Technically Speaking has posted something that I definitely would wear. He's wondering how the camera would work if you were wearing it. I'm wondering if it would make my ass look bigger.

I've posted before my thoughts on Proposition 54 that is on Californias ticket to end color blindness. Negrophile has posted part of the last governatorial debate where the candidates give their view.

Camejo claims that Latino pays higher tax rates, and if Propositon 54 went into effect, we would never know that, so the government should keep tracking this. Why Camejo? So the government knows who to tax more? Please.

Huffington wants Proposition 54 not to pass so if any potential presidential candidates gets into Yale on Daddy's name, we know. Excuse me...that is nepotism. The same thing it would be if let's say the same happened for Colin Powell and a son. Would it be racism then? I think not.

The Terminator...I have no fucking clue what he said. Could someone interpret that ramble for me?

Bustamante was just about as bad...I get the feeling he wants the government to enforce tolerance and embracing. Oh yeah, that will work. Been working for decades right? Can I sign up for the tolerance and embracing committee please? Maybe we can check it on a government form...donate a $1.

McClintock sounds like he is the only one for the Proposition, and was the only one to actually give his own thoughts on the matter. Not hype, not back patting. No brainwashed pat answer. I have no clue who this man is...but he definitely comes out more sane then the others. But it didn't take much.

I wonder if America would be better off if we got rid of politicians.

Jivha - The Tongue has a roundup of blogger links of some of his favorites. His blog focus = blocus, umm....he'll explain it better that I can.

I have had trouble with posting all night. I just noticed the post before last posted twice. Every time I hit publish a error screen comes up that the site can't be found...when I finally do get it to publish. This is the first time I've really had problems since using MT.

What's up with that?

Dave is rocking live on AOL right now...and I'm sure it's the best damn thing AOL has ever done. If you have AOL you don't want to miss this one. Warren Hayes the guitarist is sounding damn sweet. Heh. What did you expect me to say?

Tobacco Road Fogey has a real jewel here. I love it, I think you will too:

The Ten Commandments of Blogging

11. Fix thy permalinks and keep them in the best of repair always, for they are the path to traffic (and heaven).

If there is anybody left that hasn't checked him out...it's a gotta do it.

The Accidental Jedi has a great post about President Bush and his faith.

I do admire and respect President Bush and the fact he has stood his ground about his faith and not put it on the back burner. I'm sure he has taken heat for it, and will even in the future.

I wish I would of seen the interview.

Is there anything more disgusting in nature than having to walk on worms after a rain? I hate to step on a worm, I can't stand that squish. It's not any better when the sun comes out and dries them up, then they crunch if you happen to step on one.

I've always thought worms were nothing more than slow stupid snakes...therefore must be hated. I'm from Iowa farm country, yes, I know worms are supposed to be good for the soil, we all know robins love them..and how can you not like robins. Even if they eat worms. But still.

I used to like to go fishing, but never with worms. I used to make some concoction of cornmeal balls. Worked good for catfish...and that's all I wanted.

Tonight I see this about killer worms. Worms are really disgusting.

Now if you want to know what this is all about check out Chief Wiggles and
Dean's World.

They will get you up to speed on a very worthy cause.

In answering a letter to Joni I realized I need to give some time to the flip side of the medical world.

Yes, there are some incompetent, lazy fools in the medical profession. I employ a few. We make mistakes at work. I own them and try to learn from them, teach and scare the shit out of others about them. I fire these people as fast as I spot them. Sometimes it's after they fucked up unfortunately. I wish to God I had a bullshit meter that functioned better.

I am THE Bitch from Hell when one of my loved ones are in the hospital. Not too long ago my mother was taken to the ER with slurred speech, dizziness and nausea. When my brother called me from Iowa in route to the hospital I told him then, it sounds like a CVA (stroke).

A couple of hours later he calls back, they admitted her. The ER MD "felt" it was probably her cancer resurfacing "with metastasis to the brain from her prior breast cancer". What? I yelled at my brother. My mother had beaten the cancer 20 years ago. I asked if they seen that on the CAT scan. He said...they didn't do a CAT scan, just admitted her for observation. After all it was a Saturday, they'd call in the cardiologist on Monday.

I told my brother to go to that MD and quote me word for word: "If you don't do a CAT scan immediately, my sister is going to sue your ass."

Well he did, and the MD promptly shipped her off to a hospital in Des Moines, where she had a CAT scan immediately and of course was in fact having a stroke. Prompt attention there stopped further brain damage.

The exact same scenario happened with my aunt. Yes, there are incompetent MD's.

Last year my Grandmother was taken to the hospital and had emergency surgery for a perforated bowel. Two days after surgery, she was recouping fine...so I did not fly back. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.

My mother called me that second day, said Grandma was doing great, the only complaint she had was leg pain. WHAT? Any damn nurse or MD knows if a patient after surgery has leg pain, it's probably a DVT (deep vein thrombosis) aka blood clot. I called the nurses station...the nurse was busy. I called Mom back and said go to the nurse and tell her to check for DVT's.

Mom didn't do it. The "nurse was busy and she's nice, she knows what she is doing". Grandma pitched a clot to her brain 12 hours later and never woke up. Yes, her legs had been full of blood clots.

This is Nursing 101. I should of flown my ass back there, but it wasn't a good time at work. I'll never, ever make that mistake again.

Maybe today I'll cut those families some slack.

For the most part I like my job. I just don't deal with bullshit well. Some of the recent family things I'm talking about with the threats of being sued, or actually being sued:

1. Dad was admitted with severe back pain but to recoup from a cardiac problem, but according to the daughter only developed after being admitted. Come to find out Dad was in a serious car accident 30 years ago and several of his vertebrae were fractured, which mended without alot of torture through the years. Well 2 months before being admitted Dad fell at home and the pain resurfaced. Hospitals being what they are today only dealt with the immediate cardiac concern and sent him off to us. Dad after a multitude of years of cuddling up with Jack Daniels actually has a multitude of problems. So he's being sent off to a variety of specialists since admission. Monday, Darlin Daughter takes Dad out to the nephrologist and swings by his favorite chiropractor for his back pain on the way back. When he returns, he can't hardly move. So now she's "going to sue your ass if we don't get to the bottom of this back pain". Hello?

Second case: Dad who has had a stroke who needs thickened liquids was found by Darlin Daughter sitting in the hallway sipping a glass of water - unthickened. Some well meaning passerby (staff, patient, visitor)? Gave him a cup out of the drinking fountain because Dad was thirsty. Well shit happens. Mind you Dad has lived there for 2 years without problems. Darlin Daughter visits every other month and goes off the deep end seeing this. Yells at me that she is going to sue my ass if he ever gets aspiration pneumonia. Well yeah Dad can...happens alot if you have swallowing problems, especially when you choke food down and don't want a tube feed. Dad ate his meals by my office because of the problems and I had performed the heimlach manuever on him several times in 2 years. So I told her I wouldn't live under that threat, and I'd have Social Services contact her in the morning regarding alternate placement. Seven days later Dad was taken to another facility, fell 3 days later and fractured his hip and died during surgery. Yes I feel bad because I lost my temper and let psychotic family members interfere.

Last but not the least, this is a current lawsuit:

Mom was admitted from the hospital after being found by Darlin Daughter at home with multiple bedsores and a massive weight loss. Obvious Darlin Daughter who lives close by hadn't visited in a while. In our facility she continued to refuse to eat, continued to lose weight and of course the bedsores were not healing. No matter how much we had family meetings telling this bitch that if Mom didn't have tube feeding, IV's etc....she was going to die. Hospice was offered. "NO"...Mom wouldn't want that. Well it gets down to the wire, and Mom is dying and all of a sudden it's "what have you done to her? Send her to the hospital!" Of course, where Mom dies, it's too damn late. Did we do everything possible? Yes, I have no doubts. Still doesn't stop the lawsuit mess.

Yes, I actually feel the daughter planned this.

I deal with these asswipes several times a day. Families who want to postpone transfusions, IV's, tube feedings, medications etc...to wait and see what happens. I make sure everyday that they bluntly hear: "Ok, that's your decision to make, but (Mom or Dad) will die." The same thing that would happen if we postpone food and fluids on you. It is on you. Then they invariably ask "When will Mom die?" I answer the same each time "I'm not God, I have no idea. Call in the family and be prepared." Although this didn't work with the Darlin Daughter on the lawsuit...my conscience is clear. I did my job.

This new HIPAA law that went into effect in April has not made my job easier. Many family members by law I'm not allowed to tell a thing too. Families don't take kindly to this. By the time mom or dad enters a hospital to a nursing home, even if they have their right mind, many children want to do a role reversal. They think they become in charge. If mom or dad says "no" don't share with them...now I'm smack dab in the middle of a family feud. Guess who the bad guy is?

Many people have the foresight to obtain a durable power of attorney for healthcare or here in Michigan it's called a patient advocate. Many children think that gives them a right immediately to be in charge. Not true...only if the patient become incapacitated and deemed so by 2 physicians.

Now if neither of these two things are in place, before major decisions can take place there has to be a family consensus and all children in agreement if the patient becomes incapacitated. The more children the bigger the zoo party. Then they start throwing down and guess who is stuck in the middle. Then we have to petition for a court appointed guardian, which at times can take too long. Sometimes at this point I'll ship the patient off to the hospital just to get it out of my hands. Talk about a lawsuit waiting to happen there.

Ok, I've rambled enough...this could be a non-stop entry. Sometimes I feel like I could write the book:

Idiot's Guide for the Elderly with Fool's for Children

One piece of advice, if you do pick a child for DPOA in the event someone needs to make your decisions. Pick the child with the most common sense. Please do not pick the 30 year old who still lives at home and can't hold down a job. That is a clue this person can not function in the real world, that person necessarily wasn't hanging around home because they had your best interest at heart.

This is a bitch session, whine session...yes I want cheese with it, I'm sitting on the pity pot and the smell stinks.

I'm angry at my corporation, I'm angry at my boss, I'm angry at myself for being pissed. I'm burned out. I've been on this road before, and usually able to get a mind set going to get passed it, but it ain't happening this time.

I'm tired of working 10+ hours a day, bringing work home on the weekends and never being caught up. I'm tired of being on call 24 hours a day. I'm tired of not having enough staff. Im tired of dealing with the pharmacy, the hospitals, the labs, the shitty employees and stupid families. I'm tired of my corporation telling me to review every fucking thing to see where we can save a buck.

My boss is proud of the fact we made a profit of $280,000 last month. I don't give a rat's ass. I need more staff. What she is proud of just made me angrier.

I yelled at my boss today....I told her to try spending 4 hours out of her office on the floor and seeing how everybody is humping and still never even close to being caught up.

I yelled at an employee today who was suppose to be at work at 7am and came toodling in at 3:50pm with a doctors excuse for the day off. Didn't bother to call and let anyone know she wasn't coming. I asked her when she was going to grow up and take some responsibility for her job? She asked me not to treat her like a child...I told her when she quit acting like one. She asked me to change my tone...I told her if she didn't like it to get out of my office. She said no...I then told her to go before I removed her. She left. Oh yeah, this is the same damn employee who called in all last week with a "cold", who showed up at our works outpatient clinic yesterday trying to claim a work place injury. Apparently she missed the clue boat to get an understanding that you have to actually work to claim an injury.

Was I out of line? Oh yeah. I really don't give a shit. I'm sick of lazy ass employees with the work ethics of a god damn pig. I'm sick of money grubbing families looking and waiting for someone to fart wrong so they can sue. I'm sick of corporate people raping healthcare and compromising patient care.

Oh yeah, I'm burned out. 7-11 is looking damn good. I can't even blame PMS.

Ok, I'm finished. No, I don't feel better. But. I. Will. Get. Over. It. Maybe.

I was going to do some gratuitous linking of a few of my favorites until I read this:

Erica of Swirlspice answers what it means to be white. Interesting read coming from a biracial viewpoint. Really deep for someone so young.

Erica, life is too short for it to be a big deal. The fact that some people miss that fact is why at such a young age it is on your mind. Your post makes my heart hurt in ways I can't put into words.

I woke up thinking about nightmares this morning. My sleep was dream free despite the book. My kids rarely ever had nightmares, but I do recall a one that my eldest son had when he was four.

I remember hearing this blood curdling scream in the middle of the night. Well when you live out in the country it doesn't take much noise to wake you up anyway, but something like this will bring you bounding out of bed. Usually my ex looking for the shotgun. The fact that this was coming from a child who rarely even cried, let alone yelled was cause for complete panic.

I flew up the stairs and my son was standing by his bed continuing to scream. After checking him over physically and attempting to get him to calm down, he finally blubbered out "the American Statue is trying to kill me."

So I brought him down stairs, gave him a glass of milk, talking at that time about anything but the dream. He wanted to talk about it though. Telling me how bad the American Statue was and he wanted to kill him, and yes, I knew who he was. He explained that he was on TV alot, and Mom and Dad both cuss at him. At 3am it escaped both of us who the hell the "American Statue" could be. He just kept insisting that was the man's name.

Even the next day he brought it up, asking if I've seen him yet. This just continued to stump me as to what this child could be referring too.

Finally about a week later he was watching TV and I was in the kitchen cooking and he lets out this yell, scream "Mommmmm, it's the American Statue." I run into the living room and there smiling sweetly for the cameras is Ronald Reagan.

Forever known in our house as the American Statue.

I really don't have anything boring, anything exciting...to say. Just nothing. It rained all day today, and all I wanted to do all day long was curl up with a book.

Well this is the book:

God Is A Bullet

Of course all that satanist shit gives me nightmares. Now there is a topic, nightmares. I have 4 things that I have nightmares about. A really good whopper will have all 4.

Demons, rats, cliffs...and strange big houses. Actually I haven't had any demon or rat nightmares for over a year. Now the driving off a cliff thing...really has to go. But I'll take that nightmare any day over the demon ones.

Ok, now I'm going to shut up or I'll be sleeping with the lights on.

Kelley has out done her self AGAIN with this weeks Cul-De-Sac.

I have two questions for her:

Have you worn out your keyboard yet?

When do you sleep?

Amazing Kelley, it takes me 2 hours to link 5 people.

My alarm clock went off this morning simultaneously with a large clap of thunder.

I'm sure this is a sign...of something.

Probably that I should of gotten up at 5 and left for work about now. Thank God for the list of things to do when you are stuck in traffic.

Edie Falco and James Gandolfini won the award for Best male and female actor. I love that show.

I'm an award show junkie. I've never quite figured out why, because I never quite know who anybody is.

Everybody Loves Raymond took quite a few of the awards...might of deserved it too, I've never seen it.

Bill Cosby won the Bob Hope Humanitarian award. Far as I'm concerned he had it coming since the first time I heard chicken heart.

The memoriam segment where they show clips of people who died in the past year always stuns me. You see there faces and think back over the years how many hours and hours you've spent sitting in front of tube watching them. Gregory Peck, Buddy Hackett, Bob Hope of course, Katherine Hepburn, Charles Bronson, David Brinkley, Buddy Ebsen. Henry Winkler did a tribute to John Ritter.

Even though they live on forever on film, part of my past feels likes it has slipped away.

I guess it's the way of the world...the way life is.

About 2 hours ago I was merrily working away on my computer doing some crap for work, when we had a power outage for about 5 seconds.

Lo and behold when the computer came back on...to that lovely shade of blue, telling me something about "dump" "corrupt"... well I'm not sure what it was saying other than the last line:

Contact Technical Support. Understood that line without problem.

Well I rebooted 3 times...just in case, you know...the computer was wrong.

So I decided to call Dell. I actually got a live person without being on hold. A very nice Indian gentleman that quickly became very exasperated because I couldn't understand him. His "D's" were "B's", his "C's" were "B's". At one point he was telling me to type "snapshot" ....well I wasn't getting that word. Finally I got the shot part, but snap was not clicking. He kept saying "You know, you know...you snap a rope."

Well I don't know about you, but I've never snapped a rope in my life. About this time I just gave this big sigh and said I'd call back tomorrow, maybe I would get it. Now we both know that I was thinking maybe I could call back tomorrow and get someone I could understand. Well then he argued with me...nicely, but still argued. He insisted that we do this today...well he was so adamant I was concerned maybe he was concerned that I would complain. Which I had no intentions of doing...I was just at the end of my rope and ready to snap ...yanno?

Finally...after starting from the beginning 4 times we finally communicated and my computer is fixed. I hope he went off to enjoy a nice coffee break...poor guy deserves it.

I always have this compulsion to mess with the template on Sundays. This compelling need to change colors or fonts. So far I've resisted it...but it's getting harder.

I. Will. Not. Screw. With. The. Template.

On the advice of Dean , I downloaded Mozilla Firebird yesterday. After all he is the one that got me off of Blogspot and on to MT. So he is my blogging internet god. So if he gives the thumbs up, I will humbly follow.

So I've been cruising around. I've had one serious freeze up with a strange noise....sort of scared the shit out of me, but I survived it. As for pages loading quicker I haven't noticed anything different from IE. What I do notice is if I call up AOL to get my email it takes it a little longer to load. No biggy.

I think Tony first said on his blog that the little buttons for italics, bold etc. is gone from MT posting page, and he's right, they aren't there. Again, no biggy, I never got mine to work....or I never figured it out anyway.

I've only noticed one blog that looks different and that's .....an error occurred then it's only slightly in the layout of the frames.

Then there was another Chris Lawrence that says "Access Denied"....but 30 minutes later I could load it.

So I'm still on the fence here.

Steve at Little Tiny Lies has a kidney stone. My Grandmother in her lifetime had a couple of those and she says it's very comparable to being in labor.

I'm sure that will give Steve something to ponder as he prepares to deliver. I hope it passes quickly and he's back to his blogging. Although the opiates are a good plus....you don't get that in labor.

My ex-husband had a couple of bouts with kidney stones. The very first was a night I will never forget.

We had been dating about a month and he invited me over to cook for him. Well my cooking skills pretty much consisted of scrambling eggs and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but I'm a woman, I figured I could do this.

So the menu was meatloaf, macaroni and cheese and some vegetable which now slips my mind. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, I only had to call my Grandma twice during preparation.

It actually didn't come out too bad. Edible, coulda been better but what the hell. So after we cleaned up the kitchen, grabbed a couple of beers and went to watch some TV. Should of been a clue of the next twenty years of my life...but I was young and dumb.

After about 30 minutes he gets up without saying anything and heads into the bathroom. In about 5 minutes I hear this loud retching starting...and it just keeps on going. Oh shit. I am actually at this time thinking somehow I food poisoned him. The retching continues until I hear a loud thud in the bathroom and then a huge groan.

I actually ran to the bathroom and there he was laying on the floor doubled up holding his stomach. This is not a good thing. Now that I think of it, maybe it should of been his clue for what was in store for the next 20 years...but I digress.

I ask him if he wants me to call an ambulance but since we are 30 minutes from the nearest town, I am thinking he could be dead by then. The man was green.
He moans "no, give me a minute". Uh huh.

I go call Grandma and ask what should I do for food poisoning. She asks me if I'm sick and I assure her I feel fine. So she assures me it probably wasn't my food. So I head back to the bathroom deciding maybe I could figure this out since I'm in my first year of nurse's training.

Now he says "get me to a hospital". Ok, so much for nursing skills but I can drive a car. As you can imagine the drive was horrible...way too much moaning and retching.

Within an hour of arriving at the ER he was diagnosed with renal calculi aka kidney stones. ER's are much different in Iowa, you actually get seen the same day.

Twenty years later I wish it had been food poisoning. Again...I'm digressing.

That's right...Des Moines, Iowa.
Now I didn't say that.
These people did.

The Sarge is finally back, safe, sound, clean, shaved and satisfied. Hopefully in that order.

Missed ya Sarge.

Finally I find a site that can help me understand CSS, HTML, frames, tables...and yes, even colors.

Lissa Explains it All

Thank God some people have the patience to explain it to children someone like me.

According to the Associated Press a 5.5 earthquake hit Tokyo today.

I wonder what they are saying about this guy now?

Too weird.

Becareful all, Velociman is worshipping strange gods again. Shit, anything could happen now.

LittleA gets his donuts at Hooters.

Death is looking for someone's mother.

I'm hoping Daria has time to post that recipe for vodka popsicles after the new do.

Gennie is offering free MT Blogs. Yes, you can get off of blogspot. Follow that link!

Geoffrey is wondering if the nut falls far from the tree. Umm...Geoffrey? No.

Tony just had to share this giant rodent thang with us. I honestly think I could of gone the rest of my life without have knowing this.

Steve at Little Tiny Lies makes a good case for idiot warning labels, and maybe we need an idiot warning alert for hurricanes?

Get your Allah mugs, T-shirts and bears here. I really, really think I must have a mug. Allah just entertains the shit out of me. Thank you.

Mala is looking for advice to give friends. Here's what I'd tell them: Are you fucking nuts? Get a clue! This is child's play. Run!

Dax talks about the sport of deer hunting. Well Dax would you be surprised that some of us just happen to get their first kill by wandering around in the woods with a bottle of blackberry brandy? Remembering "Do. Not. Shoot. At. Orange." I have matured, I can assure you. Now I would love to have some venison tenderloin smothered in mushroom gravy. Oh yeah.

In one of my commutes to and from work this week I heard on the radio that September 18 was the anniversary of Jimi Hendrix's death.

I'm not sure where he ended up on the Rolling Stone's list of greatest guitar players. Sure, I could do some research but he's #1 on my list that's all that matters. He was THE Man.

I played the piano for years, I love piano music, pretty isn't it? Guitars speak, they touch, they make love, it can make you sad, make you happy, in fact it touches my soul.

Before I was even a teen I found Jimi. Jimi scared me as much as he fascinated me, literally he did. I should of been craving to hear the Monkeys like my friends. No, Jimi opened a world for a pre-teen that was dark, exciting and very different. I think it scared my mother more.

The Official Jimi Hendrix Website
states the week of September 28, PBS will have a week long series by Martin Scorsese on "The Blues" which will include Jimi. I'm not going to miss that one, which is scheduled to air October 2.

It's viral meningitis, not bacterial. Amen. Finally got it confirmed around 11am this morning through the public health department.

Channel 4 was ringing us off the hook though. How do these people scoop out a story that fast?

Long story, long day, and damn if I want to repeat it one more time. Now it's time to veg.

Tiger Raggin' & Rantin' has given me a gratuitous link. Thank you kind Sir.

What's really amazing is a baby boomer has finally linked me. Peace baby.

About 5pm this afternoon I was enlightened by a phone call that I'm dealing with a potential disease outbreak in my facility. An employee contacted the facility to say she has been diagnosed with this, confirmed by lab tests.

It is not SARS, hepatitis...or the usual outbreaks you read about. I'm not going to post what it is, til after the threat is past. And hopefully nothing will come of this.

This is something I've not encountered directly before, so I did some research online at work, and here tonight. I gave a rapid inservice to the staff in very generic terms to avoid panic and a massive "blue flu". Made a zillion phone calls to the corporate yahoos and tried to locate the Medical Director...his day off. Lucky me. Never did make contact.

I'm sure the hospital will contact the public health department so who knows if I will be dealing with them too.

Now it's just a waiting game.

I'm. Not. A. Patient. Person.

Please tell me this is not so!

I am horrified and mortified. First my beloved peanut butter and now this?

Jivha you have ruined my day.

DaGoddess is a sick, sick woman. Unfortunately, I think, I'm quite healthy today, so I don't know what my excuse is. I guess I'm just warped.

Have you registered yet?

Wow my hits on site meter are jumping up their today thanks to Jay Solo at Jay Solo's Verbosity and Tony at Technically Speaking for their gratuitous link.

Curtsey to you Sirs, it is appreciated.

Well I just got home from my budget meeting. I was there 4 hours. I feel like I just drove 200 miles northbound on the southbound expressway.

Corporate yahoos are crazy.

I don't know if I can do this conversation justice in writing but one of the conversations:

Me: I want to hire a physical therapy assistant for my restorative program.

Yahoo: You can't, a nurse has to head restorative.

Me: I head restorative.

Yahoo: So you are the restorative nurse there?

Me: No, I'm the DON, I head the restorative program.

Yahoo: You can't do that. A nurse has to do the progress notes.

Me: I do that.

Yahoo: Well a physical therapy assistant has to be under a physical therapist.

Me: I have 2.

Yahoo: Well a physical therapy assistant can not do hands on.

(Hello?)

Me: Yes they can.

Yahoo: Well there is no code for that in the computer.

Me:

Then the yahoo left the room. My boss turned to me and says "Dawn, never argue reality with a concept person. They don't get it."

Well color me fucked up.

Why do you think it's mostly men on the TTLB blogosphere ecosystem's top 100?

I have my own ideas but I wonder how I match up with yours.

Well it's 4:30 in the morning. I've slept very little tonight, ummm..this morning. Today I have a budget review at 3:30 this afternoon. This happens once a year and all the corporate yahoos fly in, rent a conference room at one of hotels on airport row.

Last year, this happened and I wasn't invited, by my boss. I learned very loudly the next day I was supposed to be there. So this year I am mandated to be there. Which is fine, I took some damn serious cuts last year that I'm still pissed off about.

I was looking forward to today, finally a chance to voice my opinion on quality healthcare vs financial gain. Yesterday I was pretty much told to keep my mouth shut. After contemplating this for about 5 seconds, I told my boss. Fine, I'll not offer any opinions, but if I'm asked I won't speak anything less than the truth. This didn't make her happy, but what could she say.

I was given some bogus response that anything negative I say will reflect on my regional director. Well my regional director is a very nice, smart woman. I would not want to reflect negatively on her...but in the same aspect, she's had a year to ask me what I think before this meeting. She hasn't.

If I have to take anymore cuts in staffing, I have to resign. As far as I'm concerned I'm staffing now where I am teetering on the border between safe and unsafe levels. If myself and my managers didn't put in the long hours we do, this building wouldn't make it. We would be in the survey cycle of hell.

One more thing I want to rant about...before these cuts, our building made more above the projected gain than any facility in their organization. That's over 300 facilities. We are still making a shitload of money...although not as much over the projected gain this year because of the cuts. Does this make sense?

When you are talking Medicare reimbursement, the higher the acuity of patient care needs the higher the reimbursement. Say the difference of $200 per day to $400+ a day. Now I won't admit many patients with higher levels of care because of staffing. We run 30-40 Medicare patients per day. Do the math.

That's right...a loss of close to 200,000 per month because I admit easier patients, or even worse, let my beds sit empty. Then the numbers get staggering. As of this morning, I have 8 empty beds that I could fill with higher acuity patients, but I'm letting them sit. Waiting for easier patients. Do that math at $400/day. I could add a shitload of people for that money and still come out ahead. Way ahead.

Now I could probably get fired if the wrong person read this. Maybe I will today if someone ASKS me what I'm doing. After all it is my license on that wall. Not theirs. Something goes wrong, I go to jail, they get a $10,000 fine. Chump change to them.

I could go on and on...but I won't. Corporate people really are too fucking stupid for words.

DaGoddess is talking about something totally disgusting. Madonna getting pregnant at 45. First I didn't realize she was that old and I'm sure her plastic surgeon gets rave reviews and a ton of money for that.

Madonna is insane. But then again, with all the people she can afford to hire to raise them, it's not like she'll have to put forth much time and effort. Still I can not imagine a mother in her 60's having a child graduating from high school. My Grandmother was only 54 when I graduated.

I wonder how she's getting rid of the stretch marks? PhotoShop?

Somewhere this summer I read a post on someones blog that said 99% of people writing blogs write crap.

Now I don't know about you, but my list of blogs I read just keeps on growing. I need to spend an hour just updating my blogroll to once again match what is in my favorites folder.

Kelley at Suburban Blight keeps posting this dang Cul-De-Sac where she lists links to other bloggers and some damn fine posting. Yes, I happen to be on this one, but I also now have 5 more blogs added to the FF.

I find myself more and more doing things while I'm reading blogs. Painting and filing my nails, grabbing a sandwich, ... I think you get the picture.

Anyway some of you are going to have to quit blogging so much when the new TV season starts. Sundays - the Sopranos, please try to have all blogging done by 3pm. Tuesdays "24" is on so please, no blogging. There is just not enough time to get home from work, read blogs and watch TV. I do not want to have to move a TV in this room. If you must blog, please try to get to the point quickly.

Thank you*

I must say you guys came up with some great responses for what to do in traffic. Just yesterday I was perfecting my Joe Cocker voice to one of his CD's. I think I about have it down.

Now studying street names in Michigan is quite boring. Detroit hasn't been too creative in that department. After all we do have the mile roads "5 mile" "6 mile" and trust me on this...it goes on up.

Kiegal exercises usually commence about 45-60 minutes into the drive when I have to pee from all these cups of coffee I'm sucking down as we speak.

Now waiving and being friendly doesn't work in Detroit. There are 2 rules to follow when looking at another person here:

1. It's ok to stare at someone who is talking to the telephone pole or any other inanimate object. This happens alot and of course so we stare as a part of scientific research for "this is your brain on crack".

2. It's only ok to look at the other driver when yelling obsenities, then it's only briefly, because you do have to study the traffic pattern to make a quick getaway. Usually it's not a problem because no one is looking.

Any waiving or smiling will automatically get your name added in the scientific research paper or cause a traffic accident.

Now Greg, masturbation is definitely an option but would require a dress, but then you have the whole "might snag the pantyhose" issue. That starts getting a little deep for morning. Although sex must obviously be on my mind since I proposition so many drivers on my way to work in the morning. "Fuck you asshole" and "fuck you bitch" has not gotten me anywhere. Hmm..since I seem to be propositioning males and females I'm going to have to spend some time considering if I have some latent Bi tendencies.

Ohh..once again this is getting too deep. Time to shower.

Not much happening in my life...Boring. Notice the capital letter? The most exciting events of my day was the drive to work and home. I sat on 696 forever this morning due to a jack-knived semi.

Then tonight driving home I was raving about how good traffic was. Southfield highway was 85mph all 3 lanes..no stopping us. Life was good. Then. And THEN...I hit 96. Another damn accident.

So all total today I spent 3 hours in my car to travel 56 miles. Does anybody besides me see this as a waste of life?

I have been trying to think of some way to make this a productive time. The only thing I could come up with was one of those novels on cassette. Ok fine, I bought some thriller. Nice idea...but I would forget to listen to it. Don't ask me how. So I decided if I turned it up LOUD, I wouldn't forget, right? Wrong. I can tune that sucker out in a heartbeat. I never got past chapter one.

I used to try to call my kids back in Iowa when I was stuck in traffic. Good time to chat right? Well I thought so, I don't know why they are so crabby at 7am. Maybe they need more sleep.

So I'm open for ideas if anyone has any good ones. Personally, I think it's hopeless.

I'm voting for this one.

Have you voted?

Acidman has posted how he feels badly that his son hasn't the passion he had for football.

Now I would be damn proud of that boy for feeling that way. After all it's only a game. I have 2 sons who are competitive as hell, the youngest one is still playing football and has two things on his mind right now. CARS and FOOTBALL. In a few short weeks it will be WRESTLING mania. The rest of the world could go to hell. I HATE that.

I have always felt games in general whether sports or the "games people play" are such a waste of life and head space. I believe I don't have a competitive bone in my body. Ok, not true, I love to play poker...I'd take your money in a heartbeat. I really don't have a passion to win...just to play the game. Tell me bullshit to that, it's ok. Besides I haven't played for so many years it really doesn't count anymore.

The small town I came from and my son is still there are sports fanatics. School will close down if they make it to the playoffs. They have their priorities.

I always went to a few games of my eldest sons, and fly back to attend a couple of games of my youngest, because I do care and love them. As my children grew up I knew parents who HAD to attend every game. HAD to be there to show support. I never understood that. I would always ask them "Do you sit and watch them every time they play Monopoly or Nintendo?" Of course not...but that's different I would hear. Really? How? Well it just is. Ahhh....I see. NOT.

I'm sure I won't be watching any wrestling matches this year, last year did me in. My son is an excellent wrestler, when he had his opponent in some sort of position that I was sure would snap that poor boys neck and started yelling for my son to let him alone....I knew my wrestling days were over. I wish my sons were. I wish I could tell him he is not going to do that...but I won't. Others have survived this I'm told. My oldest son did but he was over 6' and wrestled at 190 I think it was. Nobody got him in those positions. Now my youngest is about 5'7 and weighs 135, he's all muscle but - I know it's stupid - I'm scared for him.

I won't tell him this, but I wish he would just be a geek. I don't want to know he pinned someone in 18 seconds, or his car will go 110, or when he tackled so and so that they didn't get up for a couple of minutes. I hate that gleam he gets in his eye. I really, really don't want to know damn it. It makes me feel sick inside.

It can be such a bitch being a parent.

Negrophile has a post on the Racial Privacy Initiative on the ballot in California that would prevent state and local governments from collecting racial and ethnic data. I hadn't heard of this proposal before but apparently many Californians hadn't either.

In July 50% of those polled said they would vote yes on the initiative, recent polls show 40% support and 40% of would oppose it, of course leaving 20% sitting on the fence.

Proposition 54 and what it means:

The state would still have to track race when mandated by the federal government. But racial categories would be voided in instances ranging from applicants to state universities to some public health surveys that analyze disease rates in different populations. Racial data would no longer be on birth and death certificates.

Many of the opposers feel this will be a back step for racial equality after all if we can't track it and identify where it's occurring how can we fight it.

I've always felt that racial discrimination will never come to a halt as long as our government continues to delineate. I remember as a teenager filling out different forms that would ask what race I was and being outraged. I would never check the caucasian category. Anything but, I still do that. Besides it's no ones damn business, I'm an American, that's all even the government needs to know. Now if a child can see this why can't adults?

Our country will never be color blind until our government takes the lead.

Radio ads will begin this week featuring initiative sponsor Ward Connerly, the University of California regent who also spearheaded the 1996 initiative that banned affirmative action in the state. Public awareness of the initiative should start climbing real soon.

I for one will be watching.

If you haven't registered with Bloggers Congress what are you waiting for??

Somewhere on some blog I found a link to Despair.com and fell in love with the site. If a 2004 calendar comes out. I will own it.

I decided to take a stroll through a few blogs that are new to me. Found some interesting stuff too.

Now I could spend days on Incoming Signals, if you don't see me for awhile. I'll be here.

Monkey Media Report asks a very good question:

I'm curious: Does anyone honestly believe that Kerry, Gephart, Edwards and Lieberman were somehow unaware last October that the rationale for an immediate invasion of Iraq was complete horseshit? Please, do speak up.

John at FreeSpeech asks another good question:

Assume you were the President on 9/11/2001. What would you have done over the last two years to prevent further attacks?

Interesting, I'm not sure I would of shown as much restraint as Bush has, and as I've said before I have no regrets for the actions this country has taken. Which brings me too:

This guy just pissed me off with all of his self-righteous anger and false mourning. Maybe he needs to start blogging for charity. Which I found courtesy of Dancing with Dogs.

Geoffrey that guy makes me want to be you for a day. If only I could have that wit and sarcasm just for a little bit. Maybe Gordon too.

Lili Marleen posts about the last will of a terrorist, Mohammed Atta. I can't wait to see what Allah has to say about this.

I think of anything I have ever read regarding 9-11 and terrorism it's the column written by Leonard Pitts the day after.

I've read it countless of times. I've sent it by email to my children. I have a couple of copies laying around the house. There is also a copy in the box of my personal effects that my children know to look in when I move along to another space and time. It means that much to me.

His words were profound then and remain so today. It's amazing what has happened in 2 years.

Read it again.