I will never complain again

That cat you see in the header, Serenity? She's my best friend ever. I love that cat. I've had her since she was six months old. She's about 12 years old now.

At first, I didn't want her. I had a lot of pets already. I was going out with someone at the time and he had found this poor, little white kitten sitting outside, in the dark, in a puddle, in the rain. Very pathetic. He took her in. But he wasn't allowed to have pets. He gave her to some girl he was dating at the time. A few months later, after he was done seeing the girl, we met. We started going out. A few months later, the girl called him up and said she couldn't keep the cat. She said that the cat was peeing all over the house. Come to discover, she left the cat in a room, all by itself, all day long.

When she returned the cat to him, poor Serenity was infested with fleas. INFESTED! I was furious. We got her taken care of. Again, he wasn't allowed to have pets but he loved Serenity. I allowed her to come over with him and eventually her stays got longer and longer...play dates with my pets, if you will.

We broke up. It was not a nice break up. It could have been but the dude owed me money and he wanted to get stupid about that. But, even through all the nastiness, he did still show he did have a heart and really did love Serenity. He was not allowed to have cats where he lived and he knew if he kept her, she might not be able to stay with him. He trusted me enough to ask me, through the bitterness, if I would keep Serenity. By this time, I was attached even though I fought hard not to get attached.

I was relieved because I didn't want to have to give her back. She's been with me ever since.

She's been through everything with me. Every. Thing. All the moves, the heartaches, new jobs, different people I've met along the way, different dwellings, in the car for days on end as we moved across the country.

And she never complained.

The only time she will say anything is if I'M too upset about something she'll start meowing at me basically telling me not to get so worked up about things. And I listen to her and I take a deep breath and just enjoy her to calm me down.

I do everything for this cat. She is in the forefront of my mind when I think about where I'm going to live next. Don't accept pets? Not living there. I don't care how grand the place is, you won't let me keep her with me, you can rent to some other tenant who won't be as quiet or clean as me. My cat does not make a mess or tear things up but if you want to actually believe that she'll "scratch up the hard wood floors with her nails", then you are too stupid for me to give you money.

She used to follow me everywhere I went. From room to room to room she would follow me and she does not like a closed door. Knowing her history, I cannot blame her. She likes to get in to cabinets and sit there so I always check to make sure that she's not inside a cabinet before I close it. She likes to go outside so I always check that she's IN the house before I leave for the day. I always give her a pet good-bye and a pet hello when I get back.

I will not leave her in the place by herself if there's a hurricane. If I can't take her with me, I just won't go. If I go on a long vacation or have to stay in a hotel room, I will ask ahead of time if I can have her in there. Nine times out of ten, I'm told yes. Sometimes I pay a deposit, sometimes it's a fee. But she never leaves a mess and she's quiet. Nor does she complain about being in a hotel.

The cat toys I buy, I think of her and will she enjoy them. She used to play catch with an aluminum foil ball. I would throw it, she would run after it and bring it back to you. It would be even better if you had a pair of shoes next to you so she could drop the ball in the shoes. I would pick it up, throw it again and she would fetch it. We used to play this game for hours.

I'm not obsessed and stupid about it. I don't dress her up or throw birthday parties for her. I just love her. Sometimes I look at this cat and realize I've never actually loved a human being before because this cat has taught me what love is. I thought I knew what it was but when I got the cat, I realized, I didn't have a clue. Frankly, I don't think a lot of people out there have a clue.

But I do now. And I love this cat. I do everything I can to make her comfortable and happy and healthy.

Sigh...she's getting old now. And in just the past couple of months, I'm seeing the affects of aging on her. She has a hard time getting up on the bed anymore. She struggles and sometimes makes it, sometimes does not. She can't really jump up to the shelf on the cat tree anymore. When she wants to jump off of that shelf and back on to the bed, I've seen her calculate, calculate, calculate and half the time she'll go for it and succeed and half the time I think she's saying, "I just don't have it in me today" and abandons the idea.

I don't like seeing this. It means she's getting old. And getting old means closer to death. And I think I will be inconsolable when she dies. This little cat, my best friend, has been through so much with me in the past decade. If it wasn't for her, I think I would have failed by now. That may sound stupid to some of you but I don't rightly care because I KNOW the relationship my cat and I have. We talk to each other. She knows words and what they mean, in the most basic sense. She talks to me. We don't understand every thing the other is saying but we sure do understand a lot.

The whole time I've had her I've known that one day she would be gone and I always try to enjoy every little moment with her. As she is showing signs of aging now, I'm trying even harder to enjoy every last meow, every last movement, every last bit of silliness, every single piece of fur on her, her adorable little face, our little expressions towards each other, (this consists of things I say to her all the time, playing with her, and the way she reacts), every little sound of her paw pads hitting the floor, every lick, nuzzle and drop of drool.

If it tears me up this much to see her aging, I don't know what I'll do the day I wake up or come home and she is no more.

People who don't have pets or do not have a close bond with their pets never understand this. People with pets do. This little cat IS my family. She is my best friend. This will be like having a best friend and family member die. I already know, it will be devastating.

So I have to enjoy everything, every little thing right now because one day, I won't get to do that anymore.

Aesop's Fables For Modern Times

I did not write this. I do not know if the person I got this from is the original author, (I doubt it), or who the original author is but I'd say this sums up exactly how I feel about Democrats who wail and cry for the "helpless". Before we begin, YES, there are people who need help in this country. Absolutely. HOWEVER, there happen to be a large number of people who just flat out refuse to help themselves and wail that they need help when in reality, they don't. They just need to prioritize their lives a lot better and stop worrying about the next gadget or car they're going to buy.

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks he's a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

MODERN VERSION:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks he's a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others less fortunate are cold and starving.

CBS, NBC and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.

America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Kermit, the Frog, appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and everybody cries when they sing "It's Not Easy Being Green."

Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house,where the news stations film the group singing "We shall overcome."

Al Gore exclaims in an interview with Peter Jennings that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and calls for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his "fair share".

Finally, the EEOC drafts the "Economic Equity and Anti-Grasshopper Act", retroactive to the beginning of the summer.

The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government.

Hillary gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a defamation suit against the ant, and the case is tried before a panel of federal judges that Obama appointed from a list of single-parent welfare recipients.

The ant loses the case.

The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it.

The ant has disappeared in the snow.

The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.

Again, as I've said before, how long have we been throwing money at the poor? THEY'RE STILL POOR! It doesn't work! Find the solution to THAT problem and you have found the solution to just about ALL of the problems.

Speaking Out For Doctors

Another argument I heard today about this stupid bill is that it's a-ok to pay doctors less, afterall, they make WAY too much money, the greedy bastards. Right?!!?!

Wrong.

Most in this country get jobs out of high school, after an Associate's Degree or after a Bachelor's Degree. You can make a fair living off of a Bachelor's Degree. That's four extra years of school after high school. Some people go on to Master's Degrees and make a bit more. And why shouldn't they? They're far more educated than the high school graduate. And I'm sorry, but I went to college and an Associate's Degree is really a joke if you expect to actually make some decent living off of that. You can get one of those at a community college. And, well, too bad if you don't like what I'm saying but Community College is a breeze. I know. I spent two years in one. It. Is. Easy. In fact, I found it easier than high school. The Associate's is just a stepping stone to a Bachelor's Degree and frankly, I'm finding myself underwhelmed by those who have earned one. Nonetheless, they earned one and they deserve higher pay than someone who just graduated high school.

Now, we move on to Doctors. These people spend YEARS in school. And their schools are extremely expensive. And they do residency. Have you ever heard of the year of hell? Basically these guys get zero sleep. They are always working. ALWAYS working. They could put in a good 24 hour shift, get an hour of sleep, be up again for another 10 hours, get a few hours sleep, be back on another 24 hour shift, on and on and on it goes.

Doctors work their asses off. I've known a few doctors in my time. It doesn't seem that they ever have any free time or time to relax. It seems very rare that they get time to themselves.

Most other people I know piss, bitch and moan if they have to work one hour extra of overtime in their 40 hour a week job. Some of you out there are asked to come in on your Saturday and work a few hours and you groan and carry on about how you are being worked to the bone, my GOD it's not faaaaair!

Most people I know would rather not work 5 days in a row. And most people I know do not like jobs where they are on call. They want to make plans. They want to go out with their friends or spend time with their family. On call is just asking too much!

But doctors do it all the time. They don't punch in at 9am and punch out at 5pm and that's it, la de da, time to go home and sit in front of the television. They have patients. Those patients have needs. They have cell phones and get called constantly. They need to come in and check on their patients. This happens every day of the week, holidays included. And of course they are also constantly educating themselves further. Medical procedures change. New drugs come out. New discoveries are made. It's a non stop job.

Now, of course no one can work 24 hours a day 7 days a week for their entire lives but doctors do put in a hell of a lot more time than the average worker. They can be out to dinner with their family and get a call. Guess what, gotta go, sorry guys. They can be on a vacation and get a call. Welp, gonna have to cut that vacation short, have a patient who needs them.

"Honey, I'm going to stop by the hospital real quick before we attend the school function." Aw crap, while they were there, something came up and now they need to stay and handle it.

You know why? Because they are doctors. They chose this profession because they wanted to help people whether it be trying to save a life or making a bad situation better or even finding a cure for some disease, they work all the time and are just a phone call away at all times.

It takes a special person to be a doctor. Not everyone can do it. It's not just about learning body parts and drugs and what to do, there's more to it. There's way more to it and those who say that doctor's don't deserve what they get paid don't understand that at all.

And seriously, the first, what...10 years? of someone being a doctor, do you really think they're making much money? Did you forget that they have massive student loans to pay off as well as try to make a home for themselves?

I wonder how many people lie on those gurneys, bleeding, in pain, wondering if they're going to die thinking, "This asshole makes too much money." Or are they thinking, "Doctor, please save me!" You know what? DOCTORS ABSOLUTELY DESERVE THE MONEY THEY MAKE! They are saving people's lives! And because they are not God and they can't save everyone, they try to make the suffering as minimal as possible. They do whatever they can to help people and I've seen some of them be very disappointed when they can't save someone.

Can you do that every day? Day in, day out? Every day for the rest of your life? Can you handle seeing guts and blood and shit and piss and vomit and juicy innards sliding out of people and get over it and just try to save the person? Can you stomach it when a friend comes in half beaten to death by his/her own parents? Can you get past the disgust when you see YET another shot victim? Can you remain pleasant when you see the same drunk ass fool for the third time this week? Can you handle it when you tell people over and over and over again the right things to do to keep their health and they keep coming in to see you because they never listen to you but always want you to fix them? Can you work for hours on end without a break? Can you handle the pressure? Can you handle the mess that people are? Can you handle the negativity?

They can...or they stop being doctors. They can handle it and they do it. Because for all of that, they can also make a difference in someone's life; make someone's life better.

Why the wouldn't they deserve the money they get? Can you say, as you sit in your office job watching the clock tick closer and closer to 5pm that you have done as much as a doctor today?

They deserve it. Saying that they don't deserve the pay they get and that they are being greedy is insulting and an invalid argument. Why don't you tell your doctor that you think he/she is paid too much the next time you see them. Why don't you tell them how greedy you think they are as they are helping you. I'm sure they'll appreciate it you ungrateful pricks.

Yes, Actually, We Do Care

Let's get to the meat of the matter here. Some people think this is fantastic, this joke of a reform. So I wanted to dissect a few things that people think is so damn great.

"It means that now those of us with pre-existing conditions will be covered."-False. friends will be covered. Adults will be put in to a "high risk" pool. They won't be covered.

"It means that 43 million Americans who cannot afford health insurance will now be able to get some." Not accurate. Of those 43 million, you have about 9-20 million ILLEGAL immigrants and you have people who are wealthy and decided not to get insurance. Basically, we have ed this country for 6% of the population...and again, those numbers are not accurate nor are they fully disclosing the information to you. (Seriously, people, you all have the internet, can't you do some research on your own? Must everyone point out to you exactly where to find these numbers? Or are you too busy playing Pogo games?)

"We won't be paying more for insurance than we are now, what makes you think the prices are going to go up?" Have you been living under a rock? Whenever new taxes are added on, the prices go up. Even if you have only been paying attention THIS YEAR alone, you would know that! The businesses will ALWAYS pass the extra expenses on to the consumer. So, instead of making this "affordable for all Americans", what this has done is make it "affordable" for approximately 9-20 illegal immigrants, (who don't pay anyway), and has made it unaffordable for those who can barely afford what they have now.

Further, the word "pay" means monetarily to many people. Have you thought about how you might "pay" for this with your health? How about those on Medicaid? Why don't you go look at what's going on in Washington state for that answer. They've already decided not to pay doctors as much for this and pharmacies are not accepting Medicaid. Whee! Not only that but a good 50%, FIFTY PERCENT of doctors do NOT support this bill and have said they will seek another line of work if it passed. Welp, it passed. How are we going to treat all of these people with half the number of doctors we have now? HOW!? Ever hear of a "waiting list"? Get ready. And you better hope to GOD that your health can out wait the waiting list.

"Employers will have to provide everyone insurance, how can this be bad?" Dudes. OMG. I've had a lot of jobs. ONE job, the one I had before this, the employer paid for everything; dental, medical and vision. If we went to the doctor, we had our deductible but the employer paid our insurance payments each month. We would pay 20% of the bill when all was said and done after the deductible. THAT IS NOT COMMON. The job I have now, sure, the employer provides us a means to access medical insurance. That's it. MEDICAL insurance. And he doesn't pay a dime for it. WE pay for it, fully, every single month. I pay over $200 a month for this insurance and it's ONLY medical. My deductible is $500 and I have to pay 30% of whatever is left over. I have no vision or dental. (Or I would have had this damn wisdom tooth out by now...but that's going to cost me, out of pocket around $1500.) And when the insurance company hikes the price, it will be unaffordable for me to have this health insurance. Damn, what a brilliant plan this bill was.

"But it helps people who can't get it!" Listen closely. Pay very close attention to what I'm about to say. WE. ALREADY. HAVE. HELP. IN. PLACE. FOR. THOSE. PEOPLE. BY. THE. GOVERNMENT. AND. THEY. DON'T. WORK!!!!! The elderly, friends, disabled, unemployed...there's already programs out there by the government and they don't work so what better way to fix that than let the government IT UP EVEN WORSE!

A question for pro-lifers and those who despised the Patriot Act: You don't want the government all up in your business by tapping your phones or telling you what you can and cannot do with your own body but do you accept this bill?! Do you accept that now the government is going to be all up inside your business now?! And you get to PAY for it?! You wanted the government out of your affairs but you voted in the very people who allowed government not only to be in your affairs but now start telling you what you can and cannot do or, at the very least, TAX you on shit you want to do.

Read the bill. If you go to a tanning salon, your personal choice, you will be taxed 10% because of this bill. It's in there. Did you read it? Do you really want the government taxing you on your personal choices? Tanning salons are not covered by medical insurance. They are out of pocket expenses and they are a choice. But thanks to this bill, you will now be taxed on every visit you make because the government is getting in to your life and screwing you at every angle.

Did you think about that before you voted these people in just because they were "pro-life"? Are they really "pro-life"? ARE THEY?! The tanning thing is just a start. It's not a healthy thing to do so why not tax it! Give it time. Watch the taxes go up on fast food. Cigarettes, alcohol, certain types of cars, how much you drive, where you live, your occupation, your recreational activities...thrill seekers beware. Don't think it will happen? Ok. You're right. It probably won't. Surely there's an entirely different reason they have decided to tax people on a personal choice such a visiting a tanning salon. Wonder what your costs will be when they decide to start charging you by the pound. Or glucose levels if you're a diabetic. But, I'm sure that's all just rhetoric. Of course.

"Republicans, the rich, should have to share their wealth. I would."-Guess you haven't been paying attention. Republicans are the biggest givers to charity. (Philanthropy.org...do some research for yourself.) And what is this deal with "the rich should have to give to the rest of us"? This is America. We all have the opportunities to make it. Be a legal citizen, speak ENGLISH, work hard, go to school and way more often than not, you will succeed. Granted, yes, there are people who fall through the cracks. That is what the charity is for.

Here in Miami, Jackson Memorial Hospital receives $586 MILLION a year in CHARITY. But you're right, the "rich" don't care.

When people stop using the E/R as their personal physician and get up off of their asses and actually WORK their way to some sort of success, (and in this day and age, I define "success" as those who can actually take care of themselves), instead of pissing and moaning about how they can't afford health care, from the comfort of their leather couch in front of their big screen television as they type, angrily to those who do "not care" on their new laptop or Mac as they are connected to the internet while also texting several of their friends on their iPhone or other cell phone that costs them a good $100 a month, (if they shopped around at all), then we wouldn't have the expenses that we have in this industry.

The city of Sacramento, one particular hospital started offering different options to those homeless who would come in to the E/R several times a month or week; detox, shelter, therapy, and their costs have dropped $2 million in one year.

Yes, the health care needs to be fixed but there's a whole shit load more that needs to be fixed before we can get to the root of the problem with the health care. You do not need to go to the Emergency Room every single time you have a case of the sniffles. Instead of chugging down a bottle of anti-biotics every time you get a cold, why don't you let your body work on it itself, let it build up its immune system and stop looking for quick fixes. And maybe if some of you would wash your hands once in awhile, you wouldn't get as sick as often as you do. And maybe you could start eating better and exercise...but, that's YOUR choice. Just stop sucking down all the resources because you sneezed. You know those flu shots millions get every winter? There are lines and lines of people getting flu shots and many times, supplies run out. And people STILL get the flu. Guess what? I'VE NEVER GOTTEN A FLU SHOT and guess what else? I haven't gotten the flu in....jeez..what has it been? Ten years? Fifteen? You know why? Because on the rare times I do get sick, I let my body fight it off and each time I do that, it builds my immune system. Shocking thing, that.

Thirty eight states are going to file lawsuits against this bill because it's unconstitutional. Maybe then, MAYBE then, some of you will start seeing WHY so many are against it. It's obvious so many have not read it. What can I expect, the congress critters didn't even read the thing before passing it....but maybe some of you should. This will be fought. And you should probably take a vacation to reality and figure out why.

Why don't you start with the 10th Amendment?

Just As I Thought

One of the things those who oppose this social health care reform have been saying is that when you get older and perhaps contract an illness or disease, the government will be deciding who deserves treatment and who does not.

Oh NO! The lefties cried, that's just right wing rhetoric and scare tactics...total propaganda.

Except they actually feel this way. I've been reading on another forum today about this topic and while half the people have a brain, the other half think this is the most glorious thing since the earth was made. And I quote:

"It will certainly force us to get over the odd notion that we should try to live forever.....we spend way too much money on the last few months of peoples lives. Maybe now we will be forced to be realistic."

I just don't know how else you are supposed to read that. The more I read, the more I feel the anger boiling up inside of me. It's actually white hot right now...I can physically feel it churning. You mother ers keep pushing us with your GOTTDAMNED STUPIDITY and you will GET that insurrection! And how easy it will be since none of you panty wastes own any sort of protection.

I know there are people FAR more angry than I am and that is saying something because I'm about to explode like a volcano. We. Do. Not. Want. A. Socialist. Country. You. Mouth. Breathers!

Did Anyone Even Read It?

Did any of you out there who think this is a "great" idea actually read this mess?

Here's your link. Yes, I know it's long. Yes it will probably take you forever to read it. But I hope that you do since it appears many representatives did NOT read the thing.

Where Your Future Earnings Will Go

I love this part:

The Health Benefits Advisory Committee shall allow for public input as a part of developing recommendations under this subsection.

Hey! I've got a recommendation! Oh...wait, you assholes don't care what we the public thinks about this anyway. You'll allow the input, doesn't mean you'll actually consider any of it if it doesn't meet your needs.