love you and miss you!
Sent from my iPod
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Happy Birthday
To my favorite April Fools baby, my big sister Lisa turns 21again:) I
love you and miss you!
love you and miss you!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
What a wild ride
No, this wasn't the Wild Toad ride at Disney World, which I actually have fond memories or riding with my sister Lisa just a few years back, like 30 years back. No, this was a wild ride through the hospital system, as broken as it may be. Most of you know the story, but here is a summary for those of you that don't.
Friday 13th, should have known this was going to be a bad day. Marcy was having pain in her abdomen that had gotten severe enough that she wanted to go to the emergency. I know her well enough to know that if she WANTS to go to the emergency room, it freaking hurts. Got there around 9pm and she was finally diagnosed with a UT infection at 3:30am. Tried to sleep in a glorified folding chair, with little luck, as Marcy laid on a gurney, freezing her ass off because they didn't want to give her a blanket because she came in with a fever. Finally got home and in bed by 4am.
Saturday 14th, boys decided to get me up at 6am, seeing as how they got a good nights sleep. I figured I'd catch a nap later or get to bed early, so the 2 hours I had was all right. Marcy was sleeping, but up regularly with pain, they gave her no pain medicine at the hospital. Throughout the day, the pain persisted and was soon followed by vomiting and worse, but I'll leave that to your imagination because if I write it and Marcy sees it, she will hit me. (This is my cry for help, she beats me) Marcy decided that she had so much fun the night before, that she wanted to go back to the emergency room, so at 8:30pm, we packed up and headed off again. That night, they were even busier than the night before, so we spent some extra time in the waiting room, which is always a great way to spend a evening. Have I ever mentioned how great my small group from church is? When I was in Mexico a few years back, they came to my house and hung all of the drywall in my then unfinished basement. This night, a couple from that same group came down to the emergency room and spent their only night without their kids, with us, sitting and waiting. Sometimes people are put in your life and you don't know why. These people were put in our lives probably 6 years ago, maybe more since I'm so bad with dates and times, and we have been together ever since. I got to talk to my friend Chris, which took my mind off of the pain Marcy was in that I could do nothing to help. Mitzi talked with Marcy and helped keep her mind on other things. I'm not sure how long they were there, but I can tell you it meant the world to us. We finally got to go back and a nurse came in to put the IV back in. The guy talked to us, put in the IV and was just a pleasure to be around. Marcy told him that he did the best job of putting in the IV than anyone she had ever had. This was his response, "Thanks, that was my first time. They only call me when it's really busy, I'm normally in housekeeping." He said this with a straight face and I busted out laughing. I told him I thought he was going to say that he stayed in a Holiday Inn last night, which he instantly said he was going to use. Glad I could be of help. We made it to a room at 5:30am, which was a double room, but there wasn't anyone in the other bed. The whole time we were in the emergency room, I tried to again sleep in that chair with the 1/4 inch of padding, that didn't recline. That night I got exactly 0 hours of sleep. Luckily, I wasn't in pain, just pissed and uncomfortable. In all of this writing, please know that I know I was lucky to be in the situation I was in and not the situation Marcy was in, I just can't write about that pain or the feelings in her head. Nothing specifically got done for a day or so, they still thought it was the UTI. They did a CT scan, checked her appendix, ran lots of blood tests, but came back with nothing. They finally decided on Monday to do an ultrasound, which showed that she had a ruptured ovarian cyst. Seeing as how I don't have ovaries, I'm not up on how they work, completely. I mean, I took 6th grade health class where they showed us what they looked like, but beyond that, they are kind of like Bigfoot or the Lochness monster, you can tell me they are there all you want, but I can't see them and as long as they aren't causing me any trouble, I'd just assume not be bothered with them. The OBGYN that came in, told us that cysts in the ovaries are common, just not the rupturing, that's a bonus. The women I work with agreed, so I guess the guy knew what he was talking about. The treatment seemed to be, well, nothing. There appears to be nothing they can do but give you pain medicine and try to make you comfortable. Now Marcy is a small person, so what happened next was weired. They had an IV hooked to her the whole time, she was dehydrated when she came in, but she began to swell due to the amount of fluid they were putting in and that her body was not able to process. When she started to swell, she mentioned it to the Dr., but he didn't seem to care and kept the fluids going in, on top of the fluids she was now able to drink. She went from Saturday night until Tuesday afternoon with nothing but ice chips and the IV, no food or even water to drink. The swelling continued and she complained to the Dr. again, who slowed them down, but wouldn't remove the IV. Just to wrap this part up, she started to look pregnant with the amount of fluid that was in her, and it was causing her great discomfort because it was pushing on her stomach, lungs and bladder. We got to come home on Thursday the 19th and Marcy was in a great deal of pain, and still is. The bloating has gone down and the pain has lessened, but it is still there and it's horrible to see someone you love in pain, that probably could have been avoided, and there is nothing you can do. She is recovering, but has lost faith in a lot of the medical profession due to the fact that she has seen several Dr.'s since then and none were able to offer help or insight into why this happened and how she could speed the recovery. I'm just glad she is on the road to recovery, I really want my wife back and the boys want their mom back the way she was.
We had so many people step up and help us through this time. When you have kids and something like this happens, it's difficult to keep up with everything that needs to be done, but with the help of family and friends, all seems to be nearing normal. There are the people who prayed for us and emailed, called or texted us daily. That was a nice diversion when all we could do was sit in the hospital room and watch daytime TV. Numerous people helped by watching the boys so I could be at the hospital with Marcy. Michelle watched the boys on numerous occasions and spent a ton of time at the hospital keeping us company. Our nieces drove up from Mt. Pleasant and kept the boys from Monday thru Friday which was a HUGE relief. The boys loved having them and they took really good care of them. For that, we will be forever grateful. For all of those that stopped in to say hi, thank you! To our small group that have all visited, cooked and prayed for us, I can't thank you enough. This group has become family and I wish I was as good as a family member to them as they have been to me. To all of our friends,there are too many to name individually, THANK YOU! and we love you! (damn allergies)
Friday 13th, should have known this was going to be a bad day. Marcy was having pain in her abdomen that had gotten severe enough that she wanted to go to the emergency. I know her well enough to know that if she WANTS to go to the emergency room, it freaking hurts. Got there around 9pm and she was finally diagnosed with a UT infection at 3:30am. Tried to sleep in a glorified folding chair, with little luck, as Marcy laid on a gurney, freezing her ass off because they didn't want to give her a blanket because she came in with a fever. Finally got home and in bed by 4am.
Saturday 14th, boys decided to get me up at 6am, seeing as how they got a good nights sleep. I figured I'd catch a nap later or get to bed early, so the 2 hours I had was all right. Marcy was sleeping, but up regularly with pain, they gave her no pain medicine at the hospital. Throughout the day, the pain persisted and was soon followed by vomiting and worse, but I'll leave that to your imagination because if I write it and Marcy sees it, she will hit me. (This is my cry for help, she beats me) Marcy decided that she had so much fun the night before, that she wanted to go back to the emergency room, so at 8:30pm, we packed up and headed off again. That night, they were even busier than the night before, so we spent some extra time in the waiting room, which is always a great way to spend a evening. Have I ever mentioned how great my small group from church is? When I was in Mexico a few years back, they came to my house and hung all of the drywall in my then unfinished basement. This night, a couple from that same group came down to the emergency room and spent their only night without their kids, with us, sitting and waiting. Sometimes people are put in your life and you don't know why. These people were put in our lives probably 6 years ago, maybe more since I'm so bad with dates and times, and we have been together ever since. I got to talk to my friend Chris, which took my mind off of the pain Marcy was in that I could do nothing to help. Mitzi talked with Marcy and helped keep her mind on other things. I'm not sure how long they were there, but I can tell you it meant the world to us. We finally got to go back and a nurse came in to put the IV back in. The guy talked to us, put in the IV and was just a pleasure to be around. Marcy told him that he did the best job of putting in the IV than anyone she had ever had. This was his response, "Thanks, that was my first time. They only call me when it's really busy, I'm normally in housekeeping." He said this with a straight face and I busted out laughing. I told him I thought he was going to say that he stayed in a Holiday Inn last night, which he instantly said he was going to use. Glad I could be of help. We made it to a room at 5:30am, which was a double room, but there wasn't anyone in the other bed. The whole time we were in the emergency room, I tried to again sleep in that chair with the 1/4 inch of padding, that didn't recline. That night I got exactly 0 hours of sleep. Luckily, I wasn't in pain, just pissed and uncomfortable. In all of this writing, please know that I know I was lucky to be in the situation I was in and not the situation Marcy was in, I just can't write about that pain or the feelings in her head. Nothing specifically got done for a day or so, they still thought it was the UTI. They did a CT scan, checked her appendix, ran lots of blood tests, but came back with nothing. They finally decided on Monday to do an ultrasound, which showed that she had a ruptured ovarian cyst. Seeing as how I don't have ovaries, I'm not up on how they work, completely. I mean, I took 6th grade health class where they showed us what they looked like, but beyond that, they are kind of like Bigfoot or the Lochness monster, you can tell me they are there all you want, but I can't see them and as long as they aren't causing me any trouble, I'd just assume not be bothered with them. The OBGYN that came in, told us that cysts in the ovaries are common, just not the rupturing, that's a bonus. The women I work with agreed, so I guess the guy knew what he was talking about. The treatment seemed to be, well, nothing. There appears to be nothing they can do but give you pain medicine and try to make you comfortable. Now Marcy is a small person, so what happened next was weired. They had an IV hooked to her the whole time, she was dehydrated when she came in, but she began to swell due to the amount of fluid they were putting in and that her body was not able to process. When she started to swell, she mentioned it to the Dr., but he didn't seem to care and kept the fluids going in, on top of the fluids she was now able to drink. She went from Saturday night until Tuesday afternoon with nothing but ice chips and the IV, no food or even water to drink. The swelling continued and she complained to the Dr. again, who slowed them down, but wouldn't remove the IV. Just to wrap this part up, she started to look pregnant with the amount of fluid that was in her, and it was causing her great discomfort because it was pushing on her stomach, lungs and bladder. We got to come home on Thursday the 19th and Marcy was in a great deal of pain, and still is. The bloating has gone down and the pain has lessened, but it is still there and it's horrible to see someone you love in pain, that probably could have been avoided, and there is nothing you can do. She is recovering, but has lost faith in a lot of the medical profession due to the fact that she has seen several Dr.'s since then and none were able to offer help or insight into why this happened and how she could speed the recovery. I'm just glad she is on the road to recovery, I really want my wife back and the boys want their mom back the way she was.
We had so many people step up and help us through this time. When you have kids and something like this happens, it's difficult to keep up with everything that needs to be done, but with the help of family and friends, all seems to be nearing normal. There are the people who prayed for us and emailed, called or texted us daily. That was a nice diversion when all we could do was sit in the hospital room and watch daytime TV. Numerous people helped by watching the boys so I could be at the hospital with Marcy. Michelle watched the boys on numerous occasions and spent a ton of time at the hospital keeping us company. Our nieces drove up from Mt. Pleasant and kept the boys from Monday thru Friday which was a HUGE relief. The boys loved having them and they took really good care of them. For that, we will be forever grateful. For all of those that stopped in to say hi, thank you! To our small group that have all visited, cooked and prayed for us, I can't thank you enough. This group has become family and I wish I was as good as a family member to them as they have been to me. To all of our friends,there are too many to name individually, THANK YOU! and we love you! (damn allergies)
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Prayers
Please keep Marcy in your prayers. We are at Methodist hospital, she
is having pain that they can't figure out.She is currently on pain
medecine and sleeping, but we are no closer to figuring this out than
we were 2 days ago. It sucks to watch someone you love suffer and
there is nothing you can do.
is having pain that they can't figure out.She is currently on pain
medecine and sleeping, but we are no closer to figuring this out than
we were 2 days ago. It sucks to watch someone you love suffer and
there is nothing you can do.
Sent from my iPod
Monday, March 9, 2009
I'm a dumbass.
I hope when you read the title, you jumped into your, "Oh, no your not," mode, but this story will turn you back to believe the title. Does your car windshield get that, film, on the inside like mine? I don't smoke, but over time, the windshield gets a foggy appearance that you need to get cleaned off. My car was like that the other day, but luckily, I had a pack of those Windex wipes in my glove box. I keep these around for windshields or sometimes TV screens when the kids use their hands to eat chocolate frosted donuts, then decide to pet the kitty on the TV. (I don't know what they are actually doing, but this seems like a logical story after seeing the smears all over the screen) I took a wipe out of the pack and started wiping the windshield, all over, making sure I got every corner, even the area right behind the rear view mirror that is hard to reach. The wipes were extra wet, which was a bit bothersome, but at least I was getting the film off, right. For some reason, it seemed worse, so I took out a new wipe and tried again with a little better luck, but still so wet that it wouldn't dry fast enough and I need to drive. I decided to use a napkin to help dry it, which seemed to help. Next day, I see that the film is now wavy and just as bad as when I started this mess, then it hit me. I opened my glove box with a "man I'm a dumbass" look on my face. Turns out, I was using Handi wipes, not Windex wipes. You might think that they are both wet clothes, so what could be the difference? We'll I'm here to tell you, there is a HUGE difference. If you use a Handi wipe to clean your hands, it doesn't matter if your hands dry streak free, but on a windshield, streak free is important. Now I have to drive with a windshield that looks like the movie The Fog until I get either the Windex wipes I thought I had, or can get to a car wash to power wash the inside of the car so I can see. Perhaps the wipes would be best.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
My bad
So I've been known to have a potty mouth. It's not as bad as it used to be, but still. I'm pretty good at keeping it under control at home and church, but anywhere else, I'm sorry, but colorful language just happens. In my early days, I had a friend that wouldn't say the "F" word, so he said frick instead. Well that was the funniest thing I had ever heard, so I teased him every time he said it. Now that I have 3 parrots, I mean kids, living with me, they tend to repeat things. An example of this is when Mason was 3 or 4 and I lodged a Lego in between my toes and I yelled "F" ing toy!, only I used the complete word. Just one room away, my oldest parrot repeated it, quite well I might add, to the horror of his mother who was sitting right next to him. I decided that the room I was in was much safer than the room an angry mom was, I assume, glaring in my direction with eyes that could kill. I heard a voice from the other room, "Did you hear that?" Which I lied, I mean replied, "No." Luckily, he didn't try to say it again and his mother didn't hear my snickers, otherwise this blog would have never been started. This incident caused me to realize that my frick friend probably was on the right track, so when I get really mad and have to cuss, I now say frick as well. Flash ahead to a few nights ago, where I'm in the kitchen telling Makiah for 100th time to do his homework, only this time I said "Just do your fricking home work." To which he responded, "I don't want to do my fricking homework." It's very difficult to correct a kid with a full out laugh going on, but I tried. He didn't buy it. Now he keeps saying it and now I'm not laughing because if his mom comes home and hears this, I'm pretty sure she's going to know where he got it. I can only blame the neighbor kid for so many things and then she is going to catch on. So far, as far as I know, he hasn't used the word around his mother. At least if he says frick around her, I can play the "at least it isn't the real "F" word, card. Wish me luck.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Damn you!
I have a complaint. I know, I know, big surprise. I've discussed my displeasure with people who litter, so here is an off shoot of that. It usually isn't as bad as littering, but bothersome for another reason, I'm talking about people who dump stuff out of their car on the ground, right where I have to step when I get out of mine. These inconsiderate assholes park their car, usually in a convenience store lot, then dump their load of old coffee, flat pop, or the object that set this rant off, what I can only assume is a garbage can full of sunflower seed shells. I understand the need to get rid of the shells, but the trash can was literally 6 feet away. I understand it's cold in Iowa, so you don't want to be out of your car for any longer than you have to, but you were in the store, why can't you throw them out on the way in, or make the 10 second trip from your car to the can. Now, because you are a self centered bastard, I have to wade up to my waist in shells, into my car. Now my floor mats are covered in shells and I don't even eat sunflower seeds. I hope I can get the dirt out from the long winter before one of these seeds has the time to germinate and I've got a visual hazard growing from my floor to the windshield. The coffee and pop may even be worse. You step out, right into a sticky mess that you didn't even see coming. I've been know to pour and old something out of the car, but I don't pour it where people are going to have to step, no, I pour it in the open window of the dumbass parked next to me with half his car in my space. Is that wrong?
Friday, March 6, 2009
God help me!
Is it a bad sign when a 36 pack of Diet Pepsi, sliding around in the trunk of your car, can actually affect the motion of your car? I went around a corner the other day and heard this cube of death slide across my trunk, hit one side of the car, which I actually felt. It wasn't like it was going to tip the car over, but just goes to show you that the Ford Focus doesn't have enough weight on its own to disperse the force put out from a sliding case and a half of pop. I hope I'm never in an accident because they will find my body in Canada after I'm catapulted from the force. And that's on a collision that doesn't even set off the airbags. Sad:(
Thursday, March 5, 2009
When dinosaurs walked the earth
I went to see a comedian the other night, Louis C.K., and he had a good bit about things that we have today that we didn't have when we were kids. Of course, he added a lot of humor about our complaints about how awful we feel these things are and how we don't even consider the alternative, but lets list a few that he said plus a few of my own. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of things that are common now, that were rare or non-existent when I was little. I will say that my mother and step-father were not early adopters, so most technology that came about had a few years to improve before the Shrum/Miller household even thought about getting it. I'll use the VCR as an example. I was literally the last person I knew to get a VCR, and the only reason we got one was because my parents won one, somehow. If it hadn't been for that, we quite possible could have been the last family in the USA to get a VCR. Here we go:
Cell phones. Not only didn't they have cell phones when I was young, but we didn't even have a cordless phone in our house. I remember having that long, twisted cord that you had to limbo under or high jump over if someone was on the phone, and God forbid, not sitting right next to it.
Caller ID. Never heard of it, you had to answer the phone. On that note,
Answering machine. They may have been around, but we sure as hell didn't have one.
Speaker phone. We had this little brown box that you added to your phone line that made everyone sound like they were in a well. Not the best quality, but hey, we could all speak at the same time so it sounded like our whole family was yelling at grandma from the bottom of a well, probably scaring the hell out of her.
Remote control TV. Didn't have one. Do they even make TVs WITHOUT a remote anymore? Would you ever buy one, even if it was 50% cheaper. (No you can't get a universal remote later, it has no remote capability)
ATM's. How did we survive without these. The banks are open the oh so convenient same hours that you are at work, so you had to take a day off to do your banking back in the day, or stand in line on Saturday morning with everyone else. Now, you probably haven't been inside a bank in a long time, unless you were opening an account or dropping off your bucket of change. (Am I the only one that saves my coins in a container then hauls it in to see how much I have? It's like winning a small lottery, seldom happens, but its a nice surprise when it does.)
Video games. My friend got an Atari 2600 right after they came out and we were amazed at the graphics. Now that stuff looks like what you create when you are trying to learn programming. You get your little stick figure to jump and run in a straight line, you get an A in the class. Now, if your guy can't blink and have sex, you are just fooling yourself, F for you.
Satellite TV. Please, we didn't have cable until people in Siberia had it and they had to drill into the tundra to run it, so satellite wasn't in my family's realm, but it wasn't in anyone elses either. If you were around, I'm sure you remember the "remote control" that was a box with 10 or 12 buttons on it and a dial on one side so you could change the levels and actually have 3 tiers of channels. And just for good measure, you had a really long cord on that thing, just to be sure that if you ran in between the TV and the "remote," you would catch that cord on your foot and rocket the box across the room. Lost a dog or two with that one. Plus, of those three tiers of channels, there were only channels on two tiers and most of the buttons just let you watch static. I spent half my junior high life trying to see a boob on HBO, which we never had. I spent my summers at my dad's in TN, who had HBO, and would stay awake for days at a time trying to catch up on my "porn" when I first went to see him. Now, the same stuff I sleep deprived myself to see on HBO, is prime time material, a bit tame. Once satellite TV came out, you had to have a dish the size of a Volkswagen put in your yard to get it.
Those are the big ones that I came up with over my lunch hour today, I'm sure I'll think of more.
Cell phones. Not only didn't they have cell phones when I was young, but we didn't even have a cordless phone in our house. I remember having that long, twisted cord that you had to limbo under or high jump over if someone was on the phone, and God forbid, not sitting right next to it.
Caller ID. Never heard of it, you had to answer the phone. On that note,
Answering machine. They may have been around, but we sure as hell didn't have one.
Speaker phone. We had this little brown box that you added to your phone line that made everyone sound like they were in a well. Not the best quality, but hey, we could all speak at the same time so it sounded like our whole family was yelling at grandma from the bottom of a well, probably scaring the hell out of her.
Remote control TV. Didn't have one. Do they even make TVs WITHOUT a remote anymore? Would you ever buy one, even if it was 50% cheaper. (No you can't get a universal remote later, it has no remote capability)
ATM's. How did we survive without these. The banks are open the oh so convenient same hours that you are at work, so you had to take a day off to do your banking back in the day, or stand in line on Saturday morning with everyone else. Now, you probably haven't been inside a bank in a long time, unless you were opening an account or dropping off your bucket of change. (Am I the only one that saves my coins in a container then hauls it in to see how much I have? It's like winning a small lottery, seldom happens, but its a nice surprise when it does.)
Video games. My friend got an Atari 2600 right after they came out and we were amazed at the graphics. Now that stuff looks like what you create when you are trying to learn programming. You get your little stick figure to jump and run in a straight line, you get an A in the class. Now, if your guy can't blink and have sex, you are just fooling yourself, F for you.
Satellite TV. Please, we didn't have cable until people in Siberia had it and they had to drill into the tundra to run it, so satellite wasn't in my family's realm, but it wasn't in anyone elses either. If you were around, I'm sure you remember the "remote control" that was a box with 10 or 12 buttons on it and a dial on one side so you could change the levels and actually have 3 tiers of channels. And just for good measure, you had a really long cord on that thing, just to be sure that if you ran in between the TV and the "remote," you would catch that cord on your foot and rocket the box across the room. Lost a dog or two with that one. Plus, of those three tiers of channels, there were only channels on two tiers and most of the buttons just let you watch static. I spent half my junior high life trying to see a boob on HBO, which we never had. I spent my summers at my dad's in TN, who had HBO, and would stay awake for days at a time trying to catch up on my "porn" when I first went to see him. Now, the same stuff I sleep deprived myself to see on HBO, is prime time material, a bit tame. Once satellite TV came out, you had to have a dish the size of a Volkswagen put in your yard to get it.
Those are the big ones that I came up with over my lunch hour today, I'm sure I'll think of more.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Book and soapbox
I just finished off a book about the Sierra Madre mountains located in northern Mexico. The book was "Into the lawless heart of the Sierra Madre, God's middle finger." The writter travels through this area which is known for its violence and lack of police, or at least a non corrupt police. The military is there patrolling, supposedly trying to rid the area of the main crop, drugs, but along with the police, turn out to be just as involved in the trade as the "farmers." It's really interesting and the troubles often parallel the troubles in Juarez. The author had this to say about the not so long ago release of hundreds of corrupt police officers in Juarez.
"Shorn of their badges and released from their web of patronage that kept them answerable for their actions, the corrupt, predatory cops were not enrolling in architecture schools or starting up Internet cafes. They were plying the only trades they knew-extortion, theft, assassination, kidnapping, drug trafficking-with an even greater ferocity and ruthlessness than before."
This seems to be the story all over Mexico and it's sad that, for the most part, most of these problems are actually our fault (America that is). I hate when people blame America for everything that is wrong in the world and I by no means think that we are ALL to blame for the mess in Mexico, but if we didn't have such an appetite for drugs, there wouldn't be a need for the drugs to move through the border towns that are now overwhelmed with violence. The main spots for the violence are in cities just across the US/Mexico border, places like Juarez, Tijuana, Nogales and others. If we could get ourselves under control, the demand would dry up and the maybe the violence would lessen. I know, it ain't going to happen and that it is much more complicated than that, so that means we need to realize that we have some responsibility for it. If you are going to be part of the problem, be part of the solution. I know our government is giving money to the Mexican government, not sure that is the answer, but training people to fight the battles in their own land hasn't really work for us in the past either. There are so many cases where we trained a country's army to fight an aggressor, only to then have then turn that knowledge against us or the very people we trained them to protect. That has happened in the middle east and there was actually an elite force in Mexico that the US trained, that now works for the drug cartels, nice. I have no idea what the answer is, I just know it's sad to see innocent people suffer, in a country where it was all ready hard to just get by. Even when we have hardships here in the US, there are places to get help. Not always enough, but better than nothing like so many other parts of the world. As I do research for my Africa trip and dive into the whole AIDs thing, I'm amazed at how little help people got from their governments, especially at the beginning of the outbreak. Of course, most of these countries have nothing to give their people, so it wasn't like they were holding back, but there are also a lot of cases of corrupt governments that keep the wealth within the government and never let it filter down to the people. There are countries with great wealth, in diamonds or other natural resources, that just doesn't seem to be used to help its people. The world has been woken up to the tragedy in Africa, mostly from celebrities who go there and come back with their public service announcements, but there is still work to be done. I'm excited to be part of the solution, as small as it may be. I'll now step off of my soapbox and tell you, the book I mentioned at the beginning of this post, really good if you have a heart for the area, it's people or strange travel stories. I have several more books on the way, I love Amazon.com. One is on Africa, one on Juarez and one by Bill Bryson, one of my favorite authors. Doesn't hurt that he is an Iowa boy:) I almost always buy my books, which may seem like a waste to some, but it is so hard for me to read a book from the library. One, I can't dog ear the pages and highlight parts I like. Two, I can't read it in the alotted time period. I have to renew it 2 times on line and then take the book in to renew it again. I'm a little embarrased at the amount of time it takes me to read a book, but I try to cram it in over lunch at work, which gets interuppted everyday. Third, since I read while I eat, my books usually end up with food stains. The WDM Public library doesn't want to know that I had soup on page 43 and a ham sandwich on page 213.
"Shorn of their badges and released from their web of patronage that kept them answerable for their actions, the corrupt, predatory cops were not enrolling in architecture schools or starting up Internet cafes. They were plying the only trades they knew-extortion, theft, assassination, kidnapping, drug trafficking-with an even greater ferocity and ruthlessness than before."
This seems to be the story all over Mexico and it's sad that, for the most part, most of these problems are actually our fault (America that is). I hate when people blame America for everything that is wrong in the world and I by no means think that we are ALL to blame for the mess in Mexico, but if we didn't have such an appetite for drugs, there wouldn't be a need for the drugs to move through the border towns that are now overwhelmed with violence. The main spots for the violence are in cities just across the US/Mexico border, places like Juarez, Tijuana, Nogales and others. If we could get ourselves under control, the demand would dry up and the maybe the violence would lessen. I know, it ain't going to happen and that it is much more complicated than that, so that means we need to realize that we have some responsibility for it. If you are going to be part of the problem, be part of the solution. I know our government is giving money to the Mexican government, not sure that is the answer, but training people to fight the battles in their own land hasn't really work for us in the past either. There are so many cases where we trained a country's army to fight an aggressor, only to then have then turn that knowledge against us or the very people we trained them to protect. That has happened in the middle east and there was actually an elite force in Mexico that the US trained, that now works for the drug cartels, nice. I have no idea what the answer is, I just know it's sad to see innocent people suffer, in a country where it was all ready hard to just get by. Even when we have hardships here in the US, there are places to get help. Not always enough, but better than nothing like so many other parts of the world. As I do research for my Africa trip and dive into the whole AIDs thing, I'm amazed at how little help people got from their governments, especially at the beginning of the outbreak. Of course, most of these countries have nothing to give their people, so it wasn't like they were holding back, but there are also a lot of cases of corrupt governments that keep the wealth within the government and never let it filter down to the people. There are countries with great wealth, in diamonds or other natural resources, that just doesn't seem to be used to help its people. The world has been woken up to the tragedy in Africa, mostly from celebrities who go there and come back with their public service announcements, but there is still work to be done. I'm excited to be part of the solution, as small as it may be. I'll now step off of my soapbox and tell you, the book I mentioned at the beginning of this post, really good if you have a heart for the area, it's people or strange travel stories. I have several more books on the way, I love Amazon.com. One is on Africa, one on Juarez and one by Bill Bryson, one of my favorite authors. Doesn't hurt that he is an Iowa boy:) I almost always buy my books, which may seem like a waste to some, but it is so hard for me to read a book from the library. One, I can't dog ear the pages and highlight parts I like. Two, I can't read it in the alotted time period. I have to renew it 2 times on line and then take the book in to renew it again. I'm a little embarrased at the amount of time it takes me to read a book, but I try to cram it in over lunch at work, which gets interuppted everyday. Third, since I read while I eat, my books usually end up with food stains. The WDM Public library doesn't want to know that I had soup on page 43 and a ham sandwich on page 213.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Neat app.
One of the new applications I have on my new iPod touch is a countdown. You put in dates that you need to remember and it tells you how many days until that date. I entered July 3rd, which is when I leave for Africa. Marcy was checking out the App and added our anniversary. She left off her birthday, which seemed odd to me, but maybe she is getting old enough that she doesn't want to celebrate it anymore:) I'll let you know the count down every now and again. I was amazed that when I put the date in, it said 124 days until I leave. Man that is coming up quick. Are you ready Chad?
Monday, March 2, 2009
Definition of irony
Regardless of your view or opinion of global warming, read the below caption and then look at the picture. I haven't laughed that hard, well, since last Thursday night when I saw Louis C.K. at the Funnybone.
Owen Burke, left, and Ephrata Wood, hold on to a tarp to drape around a stage they are installing during a windy snow storm outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Monday, March 2, 2009. The men were installing the stage for a global warming rally of college students happening later in the day.
(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Owen Burke, left, and Ephrata Wood, hold on to a tarp to drape around a stage they are installing during a windy snow storm outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Monday, March 2, 2009. The men were installing the stage for a global warming rally of college students happening later in the day.
(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Misc.
Here are a few things that don't deserve a whole entry on their own.
I passed a guy on the Interstate who was brushing his teeth at 70 miles an hour. Why you would attempt to brush and drive, I don't know. Still doesn't top the lady I saw eating a bowl of cereal while driving. She was holding the bowl on top of the steering wheel and working the spoon with the other. I wanted to follow her so I could see if she pulled it off for the whole bowl, but alas, I went to work instead.
As a kid, I liked the band Queen, but don't remember knowing that the lead singer was gay. Now I know and watched an old music video, "Another one bites the dust," and I wondered why I never questioned it. In the video, he is the most stereotypical gay man I've ever seen.
I saw Nights in Rodanthe, WOW, is that a chick flick. I fell asleep for a bit at the beginning, but woke up to finish it off. Guys, watch it with your woman to make her happy, but drink a Jolt before you do.
I bought a iPod touch and love it. Just doing my part to try and pull us out of the recession. I heard on the news last night that a company here in Des Moines that laid off 100 people in Nov. do to the economy, is bringing them back on Monday. I'm really happy for those 100 and hope this is a sign of the near future.
I was filling my car with gas the other day and a guy that was driving a cargo van, sitting 15 feet away from me, started squirting fluid on his windshield to clean it. The pump was so strong, he was hitting me with the fluid, which sucked because I was getting wet and it was about 12 degrees.
I just saw a commercial for a "flexible bonding agent" that you are supposed to use to mend torn fabric. It's called Mighty Mendit and I want to see if that works. I can't believe you can "bond" fabric with this stuff. Let me know if the temptation gets to you and you buy some.
I passed a guy on the Interstate who was brushing his teeth at 70 miles an hour. Why you would attempt to brush and drive, I don't know. Still doesn't top the lady I saw eating a bowl of cereal while driving. She was holding the bowl on top of the steering wheel and working the spoon with the other. I wanted to follow her so I could see if she pulled it off for the whole bowl, but alas, I went to work instead.
As a kid, I liked the band Queen, but don't remember knowing that the lead singer was gay. Now I know and watched an old music video, "Another one bites the dust," and I wondered why I never questioned it. In the video, he is the most stereotypical gay man I've ever seen.
I saw Nights in Rodanthe, WOW, is that a chick flick. I fell asleep for a bit at the beginning, but woke up to finish it off. Guys, watch it with your woman to make her happy, but drink a Jolt before you do.
I bought a iPod touch and love it. Just doing my part to try and pull us out of the recession. I heard on the news last night that a company here in Des Moines that laid off 100 people in Nov. do to the economy, is bringing them back on Monday. I'm really happy for those 100 and hope this is a sign of the near future.
I was filling my car with gas the other day and a guy that was driving a cargo van, sitting 15 feet away from me, started squirting fluid on his windshield to clean it. The pump was so strong, he was hitting me with the fluid, which sucked because I was getting wet and it was about 12 degrees.
I just saw a commercial for a "flexible bonding agent" that you are supposed to use to mend torn fabric. It's called Mighty Mendit and I want to see if that works. I can't believe you can "bond" fabric with this stuff. Let me know if the temptation gets to you and you buy some.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
WOW!!!!
As you can see below, I held a test this morning. What was I testing? I sent an email from my iPod touch directly to my blog. Why you might ask? So I can post from Africa, of course. As long as I can figure out how to connect with the WiFi, you will see short posts from Africa. Aren't you lucky, you can read my crap while I'm half way around the world. Yea for you!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)