How Many Are Deaf to Covid-19?

 

At the Ear Doctor's Office

As a voice crying in the wilderness, I went half deaf myself.

There is no need to panic or reimpose the initial lock-downs and masking. It is more than prudent to follow the current guidelines regarding Covid-19 prevention along with so many other communicable diseases:

1. Follow the consensus recommendations of serious medical professionals, scientific experts, common sense, and even the religious leaders of my particular preference and get vaccinated with necessary boosters.

School Board Update

 Dear School Board Members:

I'm just back from dropping my wife off to teach school [....]. We loaned our second car to our daughter-in-law who is finishing her student teaching [elsewhere in Utah]. On the way to dropping off my wife, we stopped off at 6 a.m. when the store was open to pick up bags of ice for the Science projects today as my wife is the Science team lead. We did the same Monday when the sidewalks were so icey themselves. My wife will call when she's ready to come home. Usually it's about dinner-time, so she is putting in 12-hour days, sometimes more, and then there's the grading and prep time at home. I'm not trying to give another hard-working-teacher sob story, just context.

I am aware that many teachers are in favor of going to 4-days of students in school because it is easier to manage in a lot of ways. There still remains an increased risk of covid transmission when you double the number of students in school no matter how hard you try to implement distancing and mask-wearing. As you should know, cases are climbing in Utah and around the country. Last Summer, Governor Herbert said he wanted to see the case rate below 400 before schools opened. We barely made it and now we are well over a thousand a day. The hospitals are nearly full.

Not Killing Babies

It is burned into my brain what I saw with my wife on that operating table at the end of her sixth planned pregnancy. You were not there and I will not describe it to you. We could have lost either or both lives. Our doctor was brilliant and blessed as she knew exactly what she was doing. Had it come to it and without a moment's hesitation I would have directed the doctor to save my wife, my life-partner, the mother of five living children.

Democrats Don't Kill Babies

Rather, Democrats support health care for women and children. This includes birth control for women which I know some object to on moral grounds. It also includes the termination of a pregnancy in cases of rape, incest, and when the health of the woman is at risk. I also understand that this is morally unacceptable to some people and that "the health of the woman" is a phrase that has a lot of interpretation. Some will have interpretations different than mine and the Democratic Party.

So the question becomes, who is going to make that determination about the health of the woman? Or for that matter, who is going to make the other determinations as to whether the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest? What if the fetus growing in the womb is determined by a doctor not to survive birth or have a chance to be live long after birth because of serious physical deficiencies?

Democrats generally believe that these decisions should be made between the woman and her doctor. The woman has the choice to involve her family (or not, especially if the relationships can be dangerous to her life or health), any religious figure or friend for advice, and her own conscience. These are decisions that powerfully impact core beliefs on life and death of all involved. The question remains, who should have the responsibility to decide?

Cymru, March 2018 VII, Glorious Ganddyrys, Tearful Tredegar Town

Even though I have been to Garnddyrys before, even been by several times, I had to go back. I needed photos of Garnddyrys Row where a 4th-Great-Grandmother had lived and died in 1861. Garnddyrys is an important part of the Blaenavon World Heritage Site because while it was abandoned in the 1860s and much of the equipment and even stonework re-used elsewhere, the footprint of the industrial forges and housing is just as it was back then.

If these stones could speak!

I Guess I'm the Oddball

The New Standard of Patriotism
President Obama never hugged the flag enough

I get it. I understand.

I know why you like trump so much. Whatever he accomplishes or doesn't, it's just the way he says things. He uses that bigly edgy voice to bash Democrats, Illegal Aliens, the Liberal Elite, Government Workers, Godless Scientists, Abortionist Proponents, Muslims, Secular Humanists, Mexicans, it goes on and on.

I get that you are not racist because if only "those" people behaved like you, like real Americans, then they would be OK. That would be like Congresswoman Mia Love living in Saratoga Springs, Utah and acting just like all her neighbors regardless of her darker shade of skin. It's like Raul Labrador, Congressman of Idaho who may have come from a Puerto-Ricana family but went to BYU and goes to church and acts just like all the other Mormons and has conservative credentials for the non-Mormon Idahoans. You love the guy! You're not racist!

The Art of No Deal

Let's face it, trump is a fraud. The spectacular failure of "repeal and replace" brings that home today. It's not a good day for Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, either. You should at least be able to get the support of your own majority party. The bill was withdrawn because neither the ultra-conservative "freedom" caucus would support it nor the more "moderate" Republicans in the House who might like to get re-elected in districts that went for Secretary Clinton.

Two of my predictions about trump as president have already come to pass. (And I'm hoping some of the others don't!)

It has been seven long years since Obamacare passed and the best the Republican Party could come up with was a last-minute, slap-dash fraud of a bill that would reduce coverage for millions and be a nightmare to administer.

Remember, trump said he would repeal and replace with something much better with less expensive coverage for all! And if you believed that, I've got some steaks, vodka, and a college degree to sell you.

Pain In the Neck!

This isn't a plea for sympathy or a chance for whining on my part. We all have challenges. Some are more obvious than others. And we all could use more charity which is best when given to others, not when we're worried about what we're not getting. So I keep trying to do some good in the world.

I just thought it would be fun and maybe educational in between politics, religion, and the general miscellany of life that gets blogged here, to start up an ongoing series of what it's like to have some medical issues.

My sources for information are my doctors & their staffs, mostly at the University of Utah Medical System. I think they came up with at least one artificial heart, so they are world-renowned and really good. When I do my searches on the web I stick to NIH.gov, other University websites, the Mayo Clinic, UK, Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian government web sites because of their good, national health. I stay away from the anecdotal medical forum communities (why I don't want to invite one here), herbal remedies, and chiropractors - to each his own.

Media Savvy

You have to hand it to FOX News for knowing their market. I've been trying to come up with an acronym for them, something like OWG&AYWWSS (Old White Guys & Attractive Young Women With Short Skirts), but I haven't quite worked it out. I don't think they actually have the young-women demographic, just the ones they can pay enough to wear the short skirts and sit with the old men. They do have the old white men watching. Kinda creepy when you really think about it.

On the other hand, we have the most media savvy President ever. He can't win with the above-referenced demographic even if he has enhanced a few careers on their network. So he takes on new venues:

The Blessings of Government Healthcare - and Workers' Comp

My wife called after school to arrange our schedules. Just a few minutes later, she called again apparently with some tears, very unusual for her. I knew that her foot damaged by a table moved by the custodian needed some medical attention.

I went to take her to an Urgent Care facility. The school counselor informed us of the facility that covered the school for worker's comp, so after getting her classroom ready for the next day (she insisted), we went there. It's not our favorite place; we've been before. But it was adequate and they took good care of her. Nothing is broken, but she needs her foot up and as much rest as possible for the next little while. I'm afraid the foot-protector shoe will do some good because she won't keep off it to teach. But thank heavens for worker's comp! (a government program).

The mechanical can-opener saw for stuck rings.

The second place with the finger wounded and ring half-sawed.

The enhanced wound and half-sawed ring.

My story comes illustrated. About a year ago, I fell down some stairs and ran into a door smashing the styrofoam cooler I was carrying into a bazillion pieces. And my finger hurt too. I put bandages on it and drove home from California. My finger began to swell and I took some ibuprofen. It hurt for quite a while and then I finally went to an orthopedic specialist. The verdict: I broke my finger. But it was too late do set it or do anything. She said the swelling should go down.

Well, the flesh swelling went down but not the knuckle deformation - too late for that! A brother-in-law had told me that any jeweler had the tools to remove a stuck ring. So I stopped by one the other night. He said they couldn't do that any more because of liability issues but any emergency room had the tools to just snap it off.

I dropped by Lakeview Hospital. They wanted to admit me. Not wanting to pay that co-pay, I declined and went home to try that elastic compression method I saw on a YouTube video. It didn't work.

As I was taking my wife to Urgent Care anyway, I thought I would try to get the ring removed. I had already called the insurance to make sure it would be covered. While not at my preferred InstaCare, I thought what further harm could they do? Well, they managed.

Live-Blogging SOTU 2014

President Barack Obama delivers the State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Feb. 12, 2013.
 (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

It's close to time! Keep checking back as I try to update this as we go along. Although I am using my new notebook with a different keyboard that sometimes trips me up and Windows 8.1 which I haven't gotten used to yet and sometimes the strangest things happen if I accidentally touch the screen.

But I wanted to give you a little preview before the Prez starts. The country is down. Congress is a disaster. The Prez is polling terribly (although much better than Congress!) The Prez is not going controversial tonight. No socialism (as if) and not much liberalism even except for what the Beckheads and Teapots will find regardless of what he says. It will be all the things that he knows John ("Are-You-Kiddin'-Me?") Boehner will at least want to talk about:

Guest Post: Utah Medicaid & the ACA

A dear friend provided me with some comments on how the ACA (AKA Obamacare) is being implemented in the State of Utah, one of the less cooperative states of the Union. I asked to share the perspective here. Yes, there are flaws in the ACA. There are also flaws in Utah state government. My friend comes with a thorough background from work and experience. Take it away! (with only minor edits from me):

The Glitch at the End of the World

When I got back in my office after the shutdown, there was a urgent message (one of many) from the Homeland Security folks that my government ID would expire on November 2, 2013. It gave me a link to the site I use every few years for my ID renewals. I went there and of course had no idea what my password was so after clicking the "forgot" button and creating a new one, I went in to make an appointment on their user-friendly calendar. It's at this place down on 21st South and Redwood Road so I have to arrange to go with someone with a car or skip the bus that day and drive in. Guess what? The first available appointment was December 2, 2013. Instant Catch-22 gonna get ya!

Gratefully, there was an email later that day from one of my work associates who had learned that the Bureau of Reclamation in our building had been given authority to designate an employee relations specialist to renew the ID cards. As we do work for that agency (who d'ya think did the title work for the land we flooded to fill Jordanelle?), they graciously let us go up there to renew. I went up with our Paralegal who had an appointment and they allowed me to squeeze in after her. I did run downstairs to see if I had written my password in my secret place (oops. You're not supposed to do that! But I have a couple of dozen or so just for work!) And it was not there. So thinking through it carefully and meeting the requirements they gave me to log in to activate the chip on my card, I came up with it! Yeah! And that only took about 15 minutes.

So I got to thinking about the rest of our government IT system.

Bumper Sticker Time!

Sitting at home with my thoughts percolating into little blips for tweeting, I am able to express what I've long been believin':

You Can't Govern with those Who Think Government Is the Problem.

You Can't Compromise with those Who Believe Compromise Is the Problem. 

Compromise Is Not a Dirty Word 

Federal Employees are People Too!

Federal Employees Have Families

We're Still Arguing Obamacare?

Sigh.

Let me start with this confession and observation that we humans tend to decide things in our hearts and then justify them in our heads. So, it is often difficult to meet the standard of objective, reasonable and rational discussion. Usually we just fall back on who is more like hitler. Of course it's always the other side. (Check out Jon Stewart's critique of Cruz's competing show the other night).

A really good friend on FB, somebody I truly admire, put out a basic argument about why Obamacare was so bad. I've heard this from other Republicans just this week. (I don't think that particular friend reads the blog, but I still won't further identify the person. I don't want this in any way to be a personal attack).

The argument goes something like - "Obamacare wasn't really a compromise because a dictatorial majority rammed it through like bullies in the middle of the night with it too long to even read."

Shutdown 2013 Update No. 2

It was gratifying to see a couple of pundits (Ezra Klein of WaPo & Politico's Ben White) agreeing with my analysis on the likelihood of a shutdown with very similar reasoning. I have co-workers who will vouch that I figured this out a few days back before I ever typed it in here.

While I have to be real careful here because I don't want to reveal any internal processes or names unnecessarily, we got additional instructions from our office on shutting down (I wasn't there late Thurs. evening when this email came). Redacted version:

Here are the highlights of today's (September 26) senior staff call, with some slight tweaking to account for more recent information:

Shutdown 2013 Update No. 1

My boss called me in today. He's a really good guy. He tried so hard to soften the message. "Well, I, uh, -sit down. I regret this, but I need to let you know that, well, you have been officially designated as 'non-essential.'"

My response: "Ha! No problem! I've been 'non-essential' for 30 years! I was shutdown by Reagan and Tip O'Neill!" He is too, of course.

We also found out, and I'm not supposed to say much about this, but certain persons, while still "non-essential," are paid out of different sources of funds. And as their salaries are already paid, they have to work. Of course that also means they will have no worries about being paid. When we get furloughed, we are legally prohibited from performing any work. And we have no expectation of being paid.

Open Letter to Senator Mike Lee

Dear Senator Lee:

Let my start by stating that I am an American Citizen of legal residence in the State of Utah. That makes you one of my two U.S. Senators even though I did not vote for you. But I am your constituent and I write this to offer a little advice.

I understand that you had a little talking-to from your Minority Leader today. It's really too bad you didn't pay more attention to my blog, or your old Home Teacher - Brother Reid, or even your Dad. I knew your Dad. I realize that you must have known him much better. And I can't understand how you came away from such a good man and a conservative of solid credentials to promote the ideas about government and the U.S. Constitution that you do.

There is help that I offer in the form of a publication that one of Senator Hatch's Aides gave me up there on the 8th Floor of the Federal Building in SLC. I went to get some of those copies of the U.S. Constitution that Senators give away so I could pass them out to Boy Scouts working on their First Class Badge. I used to go down to Senator Bennett's office because I liked him best of all, but he seems to be gone. You can also get the book on-line at this place you can click at. Anyway, the booklet is called "Our American Government." Here's a picture in case you haven't seen it:

It's a really cool guide to the U.S. Constitution and our wonderful system of Government. It was printed by the Government Printing Office and produced by a Concurrent Resolution of the One Hundred Eighth Congress of the United States of America. H. Con. Res. 108-139 (so you can have a staffer look it up to check!) That was the Congress elected in 2002 right when President Bush was rallying us all for our patriotic fight in Iraq! Those guys (and a few gals) must have been real patriots! I mean, even the President said that those who weren't with us were against us so I know the Congress went along with him!

Anyway, there's some really good stuff in there about how our Government works with three branches, checks & balances, and all the stuff about how to make laws! That part might really be good since you're now one of those guys with that job!

Colonoscopy: It Won't Kill Ya & It Might Save Your Life

My wrist bands. Allergies are for penicillin and sulfa drugs

This is a PSA (Public Service Announcement).

By specific request of some of my Facebook friends, I will not discuss the preparation process. Suffice to say that it's better than it used to be, cuz I remember some really nasty stuff I had to drink once. I also remember the first time when my doctor tried to do it without sedation (for me). Make sure you get the anesthesia.

But let me just say it gets better and easier all the time. The worst of my experience was with the lack of food and increasing dehydration, I got a really bad migraine late last night to the point of near delirium mumbling that my wife should just take me to the emergency room (they do have those magic injections). She didn't.

Nephite Health Care

The Kingmen's plan was to put all their friends in power against the voice of the people so they could control all the riches and leave the poor church people to their own devices. Certainly, the poor's silly religious beliefs would help them out if they were attacked, hungry or got sick. It sure wasn't the Kingmen's responsibility. The Zoramites did one better and kicked the poor right out of their church because they were obviously not favored of the Lord - that was in the standard "prayer" of the Zoramites. (See Alma 31 for the Zoramites, Alma 51 etc. for the Kingmen - oh heck, just read the whole book!)

Last night I helped with some priesthood blessings to heal the sick. Faith helps the healing process while still using all the physical miracles of modern medical science that the Lord has blessed us with here on earth. This family has a son in the hospital with very serious illness. He was one of my Scouts. We saw him a little earlier yesterday evening. The blessings were for his Dad who is going in for hip surgery this morning in another hospital and for his Mom who is beside herself with worry and fear - not to mention lack of sleep. The Dad works hard with his own business. The mother works in a basic job for local government, but it is the one that has health benefits for the family. Thank Heavens!

I have a couple of other friends who are professionals. They both work very hard and are good at what they do with great benefit to society. One currently has employment with health coverage. The other does not. Even the one with access has not always had it as she has been an independent contractor at times. The one who doesn't have it currently has had coverage in the past as she had state government employment that dried up due to cuts throughout government. Why is one entitled to easy access to medical care and the other is not? It makes no sense to me. Maybe it's their own fault, but then we'd have to answer to King Benjamin. (Just read the whole book! And please, not in the style of  the Pharisees or the Skousenites.)