Labor Day or Union Day?

Dateline - WAUSAU, Wis. (AP) —

Organizers of the Labor Day parade in Wausau say Republican lawmakers aren’t welcome in this year’s event.

The Marathon County Central Labor Council sponsors the Sept. 5 parade. The council includes about 30 local unions from the Marathon County area.
The Wausau Daily Herald

Since then, the mayor has requested that the organizers back off or reimburse the town for expenses. 

In an interview with the press, he was even more blunt. "This is not a political rally, it's a parade, for God's sake," Tipple told Reuters. Pointing out that tax money normally pays for the event, the Mayor said excluding Republicans "flies in the face of public policy."
New American

So what is Labor Day?  Is it a big union day?  Or is it a celebration of the American worker?  According to Wikipedia it is a federal holiday that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.  But Wikipedia also states the Labor Day was first observed by labor unions.

I agree with mayor wholeheartedly.   If Labor Day celebrates all workers from the janitor to the CEO, then fine with the town kicking some bucks in. 

I don't want my tax dollars to go to union parties.  What are unions today other than sanctioned political monopolies?  Big unions aren't working me.  As near as I can tell they aren't even working for their members.  Let's celebrate Labor Day all together.  Let divisive unions take their party somewhere else.

One Knee Later

One knee year later. Last May I had a knee operation.  Originally I went for that option because I had done a short ride in May and could barely walk afterwards.  Thinking I was going to take a bike trip in mid-August, I rushed the decision. 

Turns out my estimate of the time for recovery was way off.  I do sort of think the doctor was not as helpful in this area as he could have been.  Although I did get on my bike after a month, I had to start with 5 mile rides and I only felt I could do a couple a week. 

So the end result was I cut down on my bicycling for most of the summer.  I barely managed to eke out a 1,000 miles for the year. 

So it is now a little over a year since the operation.  Where do I stand? 

A lot better.  For the longest time I wondered whether I should have gone for therapy and worked on this on my own. 

Well I'll never know the answer to the above, but things are looking up.  I still get a stiff leg if I stand for more than an hour or so but the riding seems OK. 

I have done a couple 20s and one 50 miler so far without any problems.  I've now ridden 18 out of the last 20 days.  No great mileage.  They have ranged from a low of 8 miles to a high of 17 miles.  Sometimes I can feel some stiffness, but for the most part, I get off the bike in great shape.

Bottom line?  I guess I went the right way after all.

Should PBS be defunded?

I enjoyed the American Masters on WHYY this afternoon.  It was essentially a biography on Jeff Bridges.

Just happened to leave the TV on afterward.  At 5PM a program named Smart Talk came on.  As most other programs for the last week, it dealt with the Tucson shooting and political debate etc.

It's not even half over as I write this and they have talked on and on about hate filled speech.  And while they have prefaced it by saying something like "there is no known direct connection..." they have shown the Palin graphic twice now.  Given that Palin was a private citizen when she put hers up, I am appalled that they haven't shown at least once the DLC graphic which preceded Palin's and is virtually identical (other than it targets Republican districts rather than Democrat districts).  Also haven't heard anyone say something like "hold on a minute.  That guy was stalking Gabby before anyone even knew who Sarah Palin was".

Yes, time for PBS to stand on its own.  My tax dollars should go to reducing debt.  Not for subsidizing PBS partisan political agendas.  If there was a time when PBS was needed as an alternate voice, the internet and other outlets that allow an infinite amount of views have long ago obviated the need for this station.

In case you have missed it, the Palin graphic:

The Democratic graphic you probably have not seen if you are a PBS or MSNBC viewer.  I found it in a December 2004 entry at the Democratic Leadership Council website.

 

I notice that it is the Democratic version which uses terms such as Behind Enemy Lines and Targeting Strategy and ripe targets.

An Eye for an I (part II)

In the previous post I wrote about my stinkin' eye and how they are going to slice it up to fix it.  Sounds a bit like Bush and how he had to kill capitalism to save capitalism to me.

When I was at my Oct appointment, the doctor wrote out some prescriptions and gave me a brochure for medical equipment rental.

First the prescriptions.

As the operation was scheduled for early December, I didn't fill the prescription right away.  No need to have those hanging around home where I could lose them was my thinking.  So about a week before the surgery, I waltz in to the pharmacy I've gone to for the last 35 years.  Gave them those four slips of paper and left.

The next day I came back to pick up the prescription.  Hmmmm.  Only three of the four are there.  Of course I ask where the other prescription is.  Well it turns out that what is missing is the pain reliever.  It is oxycodone, a narcotic.  Unknown to me (and probably you) prescriptions for narcotics have to be filled within 30 days.  The war on drugs I guess.  I dropped the scripts off on day 31.

So I talk to the pharmacist (the managing pharmacist also the owner's son in law).  He has called the doctor's office and is waiting for a call back.  Ok.  No big deal.  I've had them call a doctor before and it's always ready the next day.  But I wait two days and come back.  Still no pain reliever.  Talk to another pharmacist who has also been there as far back as I can remember (he was also a leader in the 4-H cow club).  He calls the doctor's office while I'm there.  Of course he doesn't get an answer and will wait for a call back.  OK.  I leave again.

As a side note, I think about how any drug dealer can get this stuff.  I remember this is the very stuff Rush Limbaugh was hooked on, but I can't get it.  What a country.

A couple days later I called the pharmacy and they say that the doctor has mailed the prescription to them.  WHAT?  So I call the doctor's office.  They tell me the same thing.  Apparently narcotics can not be faxed in.

Consider this.  We're talking about the doctor's end faxing to the local pharmacy that has been there at least 50 years.  And that is risky so it has to be mailed?  I'm not a real critic of the mail system, but which method seems more secure to you?

I am getting a little worried as the operation is at the other end of the weekend and I gots no drugs here.  I figure the doctor doesn't write a prescription unless I am likely to need this.  Call me a wimp, but I'd like to have this stuff on hand after they have been chopping away at my eyeball even if I end up not needing it.  Hopefully this gets resolved in the next couple days.

But let's move on to the medical equipment.

After reviewing the brochure, I realize that basically I am renting toilet seats that I put my head in to force me to keep my eyes facing down. 

That way the gas they injected stays pressing against the back of my eye (now the topmost area as I face down).  Doesn't look too bad and I had a bit of practice at this sort of thing during my college days although even at my worst I didn't need to pray to the porcelain god for a straight week.

They have a pad you put on the bed.  You lie on the pad so now you're elevated a few inches.  The toilet seat sits in front so as you lie there with your head in the toilet seat a few inches above the bed.

There is an entire chair with the toilet seat attached to the top as well as a table top model that I have to use while eating.

I decide to rent the Vitrectomy Max Comfort Package or as I call it the Deluxe Toilet Seat Package.  I get the sleeping pad, the chair, the table top and a mirror gizmo that I can use with the table top to watch TV.  I even end up with the porta potty.  When I'm going back to the doctor for my followup the day after the surgery, I have to remove one of the toilet seats and insert the vertical support rods in to this cube.  I hold the cube to my chest so I can continue to keep my head in a toilet seat while being driven insane to the doctor's office.

The price is pretty reasonable.  $235 for the whole shebang for a week.  And that includes shipping both ways.

All the stuff came in two large boxes and was pretty easy to set up.  So far I've tried the table top for about 20 minutes and it seems to work pretty well watching TV with the mirror gizmo.  Of course 20 minutes isn't 24x7 so we shall see.  I also spent a couple minutes on the bed pad and it seems like it might work.

Next.  Pre-Admission at the hospital.

An Eye for an I

Post Alert.

Readers are cautioned that reading this post may result in digust and nausea.  Be forewarned!

For a couple years I've been seeing an eye surgeon.  Seems my left eye wasn't built nearly as well as my right eye.  I had the doctor write out what it was but I can't read it completely.  What can say is that it is well over 40 characters long.  The doctor says it is similar to macular degeneration but not the same thing.  The doctor also says it is a rare condition so it doesn't have any FDA approved treatment.  So every three months I have to go to the doctor's office and get avastin shot in to my right eye with a needle.

yes it is

1) disgusting

2) the same stuff they use for breast cancer treatment.

It appears that it is the same effect.  Shrinks up the blood vessels.

But wait K-Mart shoppers.  That's not all.  This stupid eye also has a hole in the macula.  It's been there awhile.  The doctor said that as long as there was some tissue (not sure what maybe retina?) across the hole he wanted to leave it alone.  But back in October, he changed his opinion and suggested it was time to fix this thing if I was going to.

So I went back for a consultation in Oct and we put plans in motion for fixing this.

- - - CAUTION - - -

If you thought some of the above was disgusting, be warned that was the milder half.

I didn't quite understand what he said but he likened it to a balloon with a hole it.  If you stretch the balloon, the hole get larger and if you shrink the balloon, the hole gets smaller.  Apparently they somehow do this to my eye.  What I do remember is that they will remove a portion of the liquid and inject some gas in to the interior of the eye.  The gas presses on the area and it is supposed to allow the tissue to grow / reattach correctly.  As you might guess, partially filling the eye with gas to keep pressure at the macula hole means the gas has to be in the right place.  And that is the trick.  I have to spend a minimum of the next week face down.  Literally 24x7 face down.

The doctor provide a brochure for renting equipment to assist in face down week.

Next, getting ready for the hospital.