overreact much?
this whole swine flu thing just makes me upset. mostly at the way the media has sent mixed messages by telling us not to worry yet covering the "story" constantly.
it's the flu.
influenza is dangerous...to people with compromised immune systems. it's not a super virus. it's not HIV. people are contracting HIV and dying of AIDS everyday. where's the constant news coverage for that?
Showing posts with label crap. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crap. Show all posts
sharing.
•my new favorite television show is "I Survived...". it's voyeuristic and scary and inspirational all at the same time. these people live through nightmares and impossible situations. i don't know how i missed it for so long...well, maybe i do...it's on the biography channel.
•i got a flat tire (today) by running over a piece of iron in the road roughly the size of a bear trap. it was hidden in a pothole covered in snow melt. maybe it really was a trap. it sucked. it also made me realize just how dependent (both practically and emotionally) i am on my vehicle. also that i am unable to loosen lugnuts. i pretty much lost my marbles thinking i would go for more than an hour without my car.
•i am not against drinking boxed red wine. in the effort of full disclosure, i am drinking it right now.
•we are very close to having a wii "problem" in our household. i am not a gamer but i really love the wii (i think this dreadful winter is partially to blame). adam just got Tiger Woods '09, but my current favorite is either Mushroom Men or Shawn White Road Trip (on the balance board of course).
•the garden seeds have been ordered for the 2009 growing season. we limited the catalogs to two; Seeds of Change and Totally Tomatoes. now we just need to set up the third bedroom "greenhouse". experiments for this year will be edamame and eggplant. hopefully we will avoid the blossom end rot on the tomatoes this time around...
•i am trying very hard to read Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. it was leant to me (about a zillion years ago) by our super-volunteer receptionist, kathryn. it was leant to her by someone else. i feel pressured to read it and sort of "report" on it...
•i got a flat tire (today) by running over a piece of iron in the road roughly the size of a bear trap. it was hidden in a pothole covered in snow melt. maybe it really was a trap. it sucked. it also made me realize just how dependent (both practically and emotionally) i am on my vehicle. also that i am unable to loosen lugnuts. i pretty much lost my marbles thinking i would go for more than an hour without my car.
•i am not against drinking boxed red wine. in the effort of full disclosure, i am drinking it right now.
•we are very close to having a wii "problem" in our household. i am not a gamer but i really love the wii (i think this dreadful winter is partially to blame). adam just got Tiger Woods '09, but my current favorite is either Mushroom Men or Shawn White Road Trip (on the balance board of course).
•the garden seeds have been ordered for the 2009 growing season. we limited the catalogs to two; Seeds of Change and Totally Tomatoes. now we just need to set up the third bedroom "greenhouse". experiments for this year will be edamame and eggplant. hopefully we will avoid the blossom end rot on the tomatoes this time around...
•i am trying very hard to read Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. it was leant to me (about a zillion years ago) by our super-volunteer receptionist, kathryn. it was leant to her by someone else. i feel pressured to read it and sort of "report" on it...
say what.
i've posted before about the great band charlie everywhere, signed to the local sub-bombin label.
but here's a portion of a message i received from josh carter, one half of the duo that makes up the band:
"Due to some trademark law issue that we honestly don't fully understand and kinda' don't want to bother with (hooray for lawyers!), we will be changing our name effective now. We know this may be a bummer or at least an unexpected twist for some of you out there -- imagine how we felt -- but we're happy with the new name we've settled on, and think that it actually sounds a bit more like our music anyway: PHANTOGRAM."
what a drag...i have an awesome 'charlie everywhere' sticker on my car. now that 'charlie everywhere' isn't a band, what the hell is it? i searched google to see if there is some other thing called 'charlie everywhere' but couldn't find a link to anything but the band. i don't know if i should leave the sticker on as a super esoteric and elitist statement of how i liked them "back when they were charlie everywhere" or if i should take it off for fear that i would be advertising something crazy like drug activity or racism.
but here's a portion of a message i received from josh carter, one half of the duo that makes up the band:
"Due to some trademark law issue that we honestly don't fully understand and kinda' don't want to bother with (hooray for lawyers!), we will be changing our name effective now. We know this may be a bummer or at least an unexpected twist for some of you out there -- imagine how we felt -- but we're happy with the new name we've settled on, and think that it actually sounds a bit more like our music anyway: PHANTOGRAM."
what a drag...i have an awesome 'charlie everywhere' sticker on my car. now that 'charlie everywhere' isn't a band, what the hell is it? i searched google to see if there is some other thing called 'charlie everywhere' but couldn't find a link to anything but the band. i don't know if i should leave the sticker on as a super esoteric and elitist statement of how i liked them "back when they were charlie everywhere" or if i should take it off for fear that i would be advertising something crazy like drug activity or racism.
no words.
please be forewarned that this is heart wrenching. do not watch if you're having a particularly emotional or otherwise sad day. as a vegetarian (not vegan) this triggers a mixture of guilt and rage for me...
paranoid much?
while surfing the interwebs today i found the "perfect holiday gift".
*eyes rolling*
just what a person needs in case of a complete and total food shortage! it will save you from starvation!
if only you have a one acre backyard (which i don't)! and you know how to garden! and you can store a years worth of food! and you don't live on the seashore! or a desert!
and, of course, you have $97 plus $14 shipping.
"no discounts… even to FEMA or military personnel. Take it or leave it."
*eyes rolling*
just what a person needs in case of a complete and total food shortage! it will save you from starvation!
if only you have a one acre backyard (which i don't)! and you know how to garden! and you can store a years worth of food! and you don't live on the seashore! or a desert!
and, of course, you have $97 plus $14 shipping.
"no discounts… even to FEMA or military personnel. Take it or leave it."
local pride?
dear post star,
please stop focusing on stories like this.
otherwise, people may start getting the wrong idea about us.
aren't there good things...intelligent things to document?
sincerely,
an embarrassed citizen
please stop focusing on stories like this.
otherwise, people may start getting the wrong idea about us.
aren't there good things...intelligent things to document?
sincerely,
an embarrassed citizen
for serious?!?
please be advised that following this link will bring you to a youtube music video that is pretty nasty. not gory or obscene, but there's some foul language...
WTF? is this a real song? why on earth would someone want to sing about this?
"that's how a bitch get an eye swelled up" (!!!!!)
i am not trying to sound like a prude, but as a feminist and someone trying to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS this makes me want to cry a little.
please tell me this is a joke...albeit a really bad one.
WTF? is this a real song? why on earth would someone want to sing about this?
"that's how a bitch get an eye swelled up" (!!!!!)
i am not trying to sound like a prude, but as a feminist and someone trying to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS this makes me want to cry a little.
please tell me this is a joke...albeit a really bad one.
shit disturbin' part two.
this weekend is off to a poor start.
adam and i took off some time to create a four day weekend. we do this frequently to try to squeeze in a little backpacking.
by mid-week, it was clear that the weather wasn't really going to cooperate. i wasn't up for another soaking wet backpacking trip, so we opted for day hikes.
today we planned to hike dial and nippletop, which would have been just under 15 miles round trip. the trailhead for these mountains (and many others) is on private property, owned by the Adirondack Mountain Reserve, aka the Ausable Club. the owners of AMR have negotiated with the state of New York to allow hikers an easement over their land so they can access the state land that exists beyond.
as we parked in the allowed lot, we noticed multiple signs reminding us that we were on private land. we passed a sign stating that no pets were allowed on AMR property. i (erroneously) believed that the easement allowed us to have our dog (on a leash, licensed and under control) hike with us.
after signing the register at the gatehouse to AMR lake road, we began our hike. very quickly after, we were approached by an armed man. other than his name tag, he was not dressed as a security officer, but he was carrying a silver pistol. he had a digital camera bag around his neck and had a small bleeding wound on his face. without explanation, he took out the camera and began taking pictures of us. as soon as he began speaking, we knew our hike was over. he asked us where we were headed and if we had seen "the signs". we identified adam as a probation officer in the state of new york. mind you, we weren't trying to get out of anything, but wished for this cowboy to save his condescending breath explaining his obligations . then he said, "i am going to have to arrest you for trespassing".
he proceeded to escort us back to the gatehouse and detain us. he called in another security guard from the Ausable Club and summoned a state officer by radio. we sat being totally cooperative, providing identification and surrendering adam's weapons (he had a leatherman and his new kershaw knife). inside my head i am thinking, "this is just to scare us, he can't really arrest us....right?". i can't even imagine what was going through adam's mind, being that he actually knows the law. (for instance, i was not aware that this cowboy security guard really didn't have the authority to arrest us. this is why he needed to call a state officer. i guess i just listen to scruffy looking guys with big shiny guns.)
here we waited for over an hour until a NYS Department of Environmental Conservation Officer could arrive to deal with all of our lawlessness. i actually felt bad for the EnCon officer. seriously, did he need to come all that way to deal with us? we would have quietly left the property if mr. cowboy said that we really couldn't have the dog and had to turn around. he never gave us that chance.
so in his generosity, mr. cowboy decided only to "arrest" one of us. oh yeah, you guessed it...it was me. the real law enforcement officer explained that this was a violation; a citation and not an arrest, and was comparable to a speeding ticket. maybe it was just wishful thinking, but i thought i could sense this officer saying to me with his eyes, "i'm so sorry this cowboy made me do this".
so now i have an appearance ticket for the town of Keene. i figure i'll just enter a plea of guilty by mail, considering that i truly wasn't supposed to have the dog there (i really didn't know). but maybe i'll send in a little note explaining the circumstances in an attempt to inspire sympathy (and a lesser fine).
it's kind of funny that i am blogging about this at all. i think it is embarrassing, especially considering what adam and i do for a living.
my pride will recover, but i am not sure how long it will take before i can bring myself to use that trailhead again.
addendum:
it seems i will have to bring myself to that AMR gatehouse sooner rather than later.
i left my komperdell hiking poles there.
dammit
not funny.
i was just called by glens falls hospital.
the blood draw they did this morning will need to be repeated. the guy gave me a bunch of medical, phlebotomist language for why it can't be used. but all i heard was "more blood".
i nearly cried.
i am now scheduled for a special appointment with a lead phlebotomist because i am a "hard stick".
~sweet~
the blood draw they did this morning will need to be repeated. the guy gave me a bunch of medical, phlebotomist language for why it can't be used. but all i heard was "more blood".
i nearly cried.
i am now scheduled for a special appointment with a lead phlebotomist because i am a "hard stick".
~sweet~
ummmm....this must be a joke?!?!
this must be the biggest, heapingest ball of crap i have ever wasted my time reading. number 10 is a real gem.
inside a case worker's head
here's a few uncoordinated thoughts on the federal poverty level, the criteria used to determine eligibility for most forms of state and federal assistance.
the federal poverty level is a income threshold that is re-evaluated annually based on inflation. the formula for calculating poverty has not been significantly changed in over 40 years. it is based on the cost of food and how much of one's income the US Dept of Health and Human Services assumes one spends on food. the basic idea is that a person spends about a third of their income on food. the govemment makes an assessment on how much food would feed a person for a month, estimates what it would cost and then multiplies it by three.
the main issue i have with this is that it doesn't make sense. think about it, do you spend a third of your income on food? i don't. what about your housing cost? the cost of housing has increased faster than the rate of inflation. much faster.
if your monthly income is $850 or below in 2007 you are in poverty. if you are unlucky enough to be at or below this place, you will hopefully be eligible for multiple types of assistance like Medicaid or Food Stamps.
lets say that you work a minimum wage job.
(i am going to use the federal minimum wage because we are looking at the federal poverty level. each state has the ability to create their own minimum wage)
you make $5.85 an hour and you probably work about 37 hours weekly because your employer doesn't want you to be eligible for company health insurance. you gross about $11,255 annually. you are over the federal poverty level of $10,210 annually for a single person.
based on the way the goverment looks at it you spend about $312 on food. that leaves you $626 for rent, utilities/phone, transportation and health care (because you are over the income threshold for Medicaid). considering the median rent in 2000 was $602 monthly, you're screwed. what are you going to go without? you certainly cannot afford a car and insurance, so how do you get to your job? how do you pay for public transportation? what happens if you get sick?
how much of a difference in comfort is there between the person who has an annual income of $10,000 and $13,000? not much from the way i see it. but the goverment doesn't see the latter as being in poverty.
certainly this definition of poverty is helpful for the purpose of statistics. in my opinion the current federal poverty threshold is very low, and in turn it looks like we have less poor people in our country.
what happens to all the folks just above the poverty level? there is an enormous amount of people that exist between the poverty level and the 'middle class'. these folks work hard and pay taxes. they often don't have health insurance and can't afford stable or safe housing. they have unreliable forms of transportation. they work jobs with no security and feel invaluable and overlooked. they don't vote because no one is talking about things they experience, or maybe they are just too busy 'surviving' to care.
at a time when we are cautiously hopeful for real change in the united states, i would certainly like to hear more political conversation in this area. although the idea of universal health care is optimistic, it is only one small piece of the larger puzzle. are there any politicians creating a comprehensive solution to poverty in the united states?
if so, please let me know.
the federal poverty level is a income threshold that is re-evaluated annually based on inflation. the formula for calculating poverty has not been significantly changed in over 40 years. it is based on the cost of food and how much of one's income the US Dept of Health and Human Services assumes one spends on food. the basic idea is that a person spends about a third of their income on food. the govemment makes an assessment on how much food would feed a person for a month, estimates what it would cost and then multiplies it by three.
the main issue i have with this is that it doesn't make sense. think about it, do you spend a third of your income on food? i don't. what about your housing cost? the cost of housing has increased faster than the rate of inflation. much faster.
if your monthly income is $850 or below in 2007 you are in poverty. if you are unlucky enough to be at or below this place, you will hopefully be eligible for multiple types of assistance like Medicaid or Food Stamps.
lets say that you work a minimum wage job.
(i am going to use the federal minimum wage because we are looking at the federal poverty level. each state has the ability to create their own minimum wage)
you make $5.85 an hour and you probably work about 37 hours weekly because your employer doesn't want you to be eligible for company health insurance. you gross about $11,255 annually. you are over the federal poverty level of $10,210 annually for a single person.
based on the way the goverment looks at it you spend about $312 on food. that leaves you $626 for rent, utilities/phone, transportation and health care (because you are over the income threshold for Medicaid). considering the median rent in 2000 was $602 monthly, you're screwed. what are you going to go without? you certainly cannot afford a car and insurance, so how do you get to your job? how do you pay for public transportation? what happens if you get sick?
how much of a difference in comfort is there between the person who has an annual income of $10,000 and $13,000? not much from the way i see it. but the goverment doesn't see the latter as being in poverty.
certainly this definition of poverty is helpful for the purpose of statistics. in my opinion the current federal poverty threshold is very low, and in turn it looks like we have less poor people in our country.
what happens to all the folks just above the poverty level? there is an enormous amount of people that exist between the poverty level and the 'middle class'. these folks work hard and pay taxes. they often don't have health insurance and can't afford stable or safe housing. they have unreliable forms of transportation. they work jobs with no security and feel invaluable and overlooked. they don't vote because no one is talking about things they experience, or maybe they are just too busy 'surviving' to care.
at a time when we are cautiously hopeful for real change in the united states, i would certainly like to hear more political conversation in this area. although the idea of universal health care is optimistic, it is only one small piece of the larger puzzle. are there any politicians creating a comprehensive solution to poverty in the united states?
if so, please let me know.
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