I grew up in a family that was very strongly Democrat in nature, or so they say they were. They believed that the government was always going to be there to help them out no matter what. The concept of the “bailout” was alive and well in our family.
To me that meant sponging off the government taxpayers even if it meant lying about how you got where you were. The welfare system in the form that it exists now and then just goes against my whole moral fiber.
WELFARE
When I was a kid I saw too many people in my family abuse the welfare system and continue to get checks for doing nothing but cranking out babies. That is just wrong. The welfare system should be a system to help people in need not a system that you become dependent on. It is literally like a drug to some people. They become so dependent on it they thought they couldn't do anything else and continued to feed off the government teet at taxpayer expense. It was and is wasteful of taxpayer money to allow this to happen. At a young age it was this form of waste that helped shape my views about money use and waste.
My parents were divorced when I was about three years old. My brother and I lived with our mother after the divorce. We had very little money and lived in a one bedroom apartment and had to steal a lot to buy simple things. Consequently me and my brother spent lots of time in juvenile detention due to stealing. Dad almost never paid child support. Mom was kind of working and pretty much lived on the welfare system, while she went to beauty school to become a hairdresser.
I still remember the nasty looks that the checkers at the Safeway store would give us when we handed them the “welfare money.” We were always viewed as filthy little welfare boys. It was that perception of how those people viewed us that is the basis of my belief system and not being dependent on the government. I vowed to myself that I would never intentionally do that to myself or my children. One could say I had some pretty lofty thoughts for a six year old boy.
I still remember quite vividly rummaging through trash cans looking for food on weeks when the welfare checks ran short because mom just had to have her cigarettes and would trade the welfare money for cash.
NEGATIVITY
When I was about fourteen (sometime in 1981) I was in my fathers’ shop watching him do some of his leather crafting. I was always impressed at the work he did and how he could take a simple piece of leather and turn it into a piece of art. One day I watched in awe as he was working on an intricate piece and asked him if I could learn how to do what he did. His response to me was “You can’t even draw a straight line what makes you think you could ever do what I do!” It was that one hurtful comment that forever changed my life and also when I lost all respect for my father.
At first, I was in absolute shock that he would say that to me. After crying about it and reflecting on it I once again used this as a stepping stone to more of my belief system and how I approached work and dealt with others. It was that one hurtful comment that has always forced me to do everything I do better. Even though I never picked up leather crafting I did start doing something that my dad did which was learning computers. I eventually vowed to myself that I would learn more than he could and to learn it better than him. My own internal goals have always been to be better than him and his narrow-minded form of thinking. This was the last and final bolt in my foundation of belief that solidified how I would think and act. It was now my goal in life to be as opposite as my father as I could possibly be. In many ways it has been a very difficult struggle but it has been worth it. This internal struggle has made me who I am today.
To this day it has almost always been negative comments directed at me that have driven me to do what I do. I will admit I haven’t always turned a negative comment and made it positive. But I have been quite successful at turning negatives into positives.
UNIONS
My father was and is a huge pro-labor union guy. He was gainfully employed many times during the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s only because of the labor union. He was and still is one of the biggest jerks I have ever met. If it were not for labor unions he would not have been able to get employed. It was always his temper that got him in trouble. He always had a way of blaming others for his own problems. But the union would always save him and keep him working. Once again you can see that dependency thing going on. He always used the union as a crutch for his own bad behavior because he always knew in the end they would bail him out.
BANKRUPTCY
Like clockwork every seven years my parents would file for bankruptcy and pile up huge debts along the way and expect the government to bail them out because of the bad choices they made by buying things they did not need and only because they wanted them.
I am not saying that I am against the concept of bankruptcy. I am against the concept of using it as a crutch for your own personal method of helping you get out of the problems you create when you continue to make one bad decision after another. At some point there has to be a limit on stuff like this. To me bankruptcy is a last resort not a cop-out.
I was always just in absolute shock (and still am) that within months of getting a bankruptcy discharged how my parents would go out and just pile up more debts for crap that they really didn’t need. But yet because they had just been discharged they were able to get rid of stuff they no longer wanted and didn’t have to pay for it. So they went out and got more stuff.
VOTING
Neither of my parents ever voted. They sure complained about whoever was in office at the time and to this day they still complain. It was always my opinion (and still is) that if you did not vote then your opinion did not count. One day when I was about 17, I made this statement to my father and boy did I get a stern lecture. I really did not care it was my opinion and I stuck by it and to this still stick by it. You have no right to complain about who is running the government if you do not vote. You can piss and moan all you want it doesn’t matter. You gave up the right to an opinion about government by not casting your ballot. Period! End of discussion.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Change in blog direction
A recent post that was deleted on my Facebook page has given me new inspiration. I have decided to restart this blog in a different fashion. It was originally my ranting on about technology and those around me (namely a former supervisor, this was very unproductive). Since I have left that job life has gotten considerably less stressful so I really couldn’t keep up with being the angry technophile.
This blog will now be nothing more than my own personal viewpoints on being a fiscal conservative Republican.
There may be times when what I say on this blog may offend you. That’s not my concern. If you are offended then turn that around on me and comment or just stop reading. Either way it does not matter to me. If you are easily offended by people with differing opinions then go somewhere else. This is not the blog for you. I welcome good healthy debate not narrow-minded ideas that only one side shares. I am all for middle-of-the-road. I can easily meet someone halfway and maybe be swayed, but it had better be a damn good argument.
I personally am not easily-offended. In many ways I take inspiration from negative comments. Heck, that’s what has motivated me to restart this blog.
It seems as though some people find my political views either extreme or they just don’t understand that some people can actually think differently than them. I tend to think it to be more the latter of the two. So many people have become so fixated in their viewpoints that they cannot think of any way other way to think. This leads to a very narrow-minded view of how things should be done.
Today, so many people are seeing things as “black and white” when there really is a lot of grey out there. In our political belief system we have so many views that it’s just not Republican versus Democrat. Many people just have not learned to accept that.
This blog will now be nothing more than my own personal viewpoints on being a fiscal conservative Republican.
There may be times when what I say on this blog may offend you. That’s not my concern. If you are offended then turn that around on me and comment or just stop reading. Either way it does not matter to me. If you are easily offended by people with differing opinions then go somewhere else. This is not the blog for you. I welcome good healthy debate not narrow-minded ideas that only one side shares. I am all for middle-of-the-road. I can easily meet someone halfway and maybe be swayed, but it had better be a damn good argument.
I personally am not easily-offended. In many ways I take inspiration from negative comments. Heck, that’s what has motivated me to restart this blog.
It seems as though some people find my political views either extreme or they just don’t understand that some people can actually think differently than them. I tend to think it to be more the latter of the two. So many people have become so fixated in their viewpoints that they cannot think of any way other way to think. This leads to a very narrow-minded view of how things should be done.
Today, so many people are seeing things as “black and white” when there really is a lot of grey out there. In our political belief system we have so many views that it’s just not Republican versus Democrat. Many people just have not learned to accept that.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
The visit with the doctor
Well I ended up going to the appointment without my wife just to see what he had to say for himself. Was kind of hoping that he would say how sorry he was for all the mistakes that had been made in his office. I know wishful thinking from a doctor.
He was a bit shocked that my wife was not there. I explained to him why she was not there and that she would not be coming back.
I explained to him about all the mistakes that had been made. Not even a sign of compassion in his face. Even made a statement that we would prefer to keep lawyers out this because nobody comes out ahead on it anyway. Then he had the audacity to say, "I'm not afraid of lawsuits". That pretty much sent me over the edge. but I kept my composure and continued on with the conversation.
We went off to his office to discuss the results of the MRI. I asked about who we might go to for a second opinion. Then he said that we would have a tough time getting one because "there's no money to be made in the second opinion, it's only in the initial consult and surgery." But he did end up giving me the name of at least four other neurosurgeons, not that we have contacted any of them. Guess that pretty much means he's only in it for the money and not the care of ongoing patients.
He gave me the results of the MRI and suggested that my wife go in for a nerve conduction study and gave me the name of someone for that.
Tomorrow she goes in to see another neurologist that was recommended to her by the original orthopedic doctor that sent her to Wayson in the first place. Hopefully we'll find out something. He says unfortunatley the only true way to find out what happended is to open her back up and look at the surgical site. Since none of it will show up on an MRI.
He was a bit shocked that my wife was not there. I explained to him why she was not there and that she would not be coming back.
I explained to him about all the mistakes that had been made. Not even a sign of compassion in his face. Even made a statement that we would prefer to keep lawyers out this because nobody comes out ahead on it anyway. Then he had the audacity to say, "I'm not afraid of lawsuits". That pretty much sent me over the edge. but I kept my composure and continued on with the conversation.
We went off to his office to discuss the results of the MRI. I asked about who we might go to for a second opinion. Then he said that we would have a tough time getting one because "there's no money to be made in the second opinion, it's only in the initial consult and surgery." But he did end up giving me the name of at least four other neurosurgeons, not that we have contacted any of them. Guess that pretty much means he's only in it for the money and not the care of ongoing patients.
He gave me the results of the MRI and suggested that my wife go in for a nerve conduction study and gave me the name of someone for that.
Tomorrow she goes in to see another neurologist that was recommended to her by the original orthopedic doctor that sent her to Wayson in the first place. Hopefully we'll find out something. He says unfortunatley the only true way to find out what happended is to open her back up and look at the surgical site. Since none of it will show up on an MRI.
Post surgery
A week after the surgery my wife went in to get the staples removed from the back of her neck.
Still no feeling in the arm.
Dr Wayson told her that he would get in a prior authorization to our insurance company to get an MRI done to see what was wrong. He said he would call us as soon as the PA came thru. We waited 2 weeks and still had not heard from the doctor. So my wife calls up the insurance company. Guess what he nor his office never called it in to get the PA. By this time my wife is pretty ticked off. It's been 3 weeks and her arm is still parlayzed from the surgery. So the insurance company calls the doctors office to find out if they want ot submit a PA for the MRI. Hmmm, don't think it should be our job to get them to do this.
So now finally we have a PA for the MRI. We get it scheduled I take half the day off work to watch the kids while she goes in. Two hours later she comes home crying and pissed off and locks herself in the room.
Apparently the office had sent over orders for the wrong MRI (they were actually order for someone else). So I call the doctors office to get this straightened out
and I get the MRI rescheduled for later that day. She goes in and finally gets the MRI, obviously she is pretty pissed by this time.
She calls up the doctors office later that day to try and schedule an appointment for the results, but she also has the results sent to her primary car physician. The office says, oh, he's out on vacation and won't be back for another 4 days. Well that pretty much sends her over the edge.
So she waits till he is "supposedly back from vacation" and finally get thru and request an appointment for the results. The doctor himself says can it wait about 3 weeks. Guess that was not the right thing to say. Guess there ain't no compassion coming from that doctor. My wife got a paralyzed arm because of him and he wants to wait more time.
Well she finally gets an appointment for Friday April 27. We get to the doctor's office and wait about 15 minutes then the office admin comes out and says the doctor was called off to emergency surgery earlier that day and is not seeing any patients today. Supposedly they had called the house to let us know this. Well we had both been at work that day so how are we to know this. Guess you can pretty much figure this was the end of her visiting Dr Kim Wayson anymore. She was out that door faster than I could keep up with her. On the way out the office admin says that she will hold an appointment the following Monday at the same time. Wife ain't coming back in for that one. She isn't going back to him any more.
Still no feeling in the arm.
Dr Wayson told her that he would get in a prior authorization to our insurance company to get an MRI done to see what was wrong. He said he would call us as soon as the PA came thru. We waited 2 weeks and still had not heard from the doctor. So my wife calls up the insurance company. Guess what he nor his office never called it in to get the PA. By this time my wife is pretty ticked off. It's been 3 weeks and her arm is still parlayzed from the surgery. So the insurance company calls the doctors office to find out if they want ot submit a PA for the MRI. Hmmm, don't think it should be our job to get them to do this.
So now finally we have a PA for the MRI. We get it scheduled I take half the day off work to watch the kids while she goes in. Two hours later she comes home crying and pissed off and locks herself in the room.
Apparently the office had sent over orders for the wrong MRI (they were actually order for someone else). So I call the doctors office to get this straightened out
and I get the MRI rescheduled for later that day. She goes in and finally gets the MRI, obviously she is pretty pissed by this time.
She calls up the doctors office later that day to try and schedule an appointment for the results, but she also has the results sent to her primary car physician. The office says, oh, he's out on vacation and won't be back for another 4 days. Well that pretty much sends her over the edge.
So she waits till he is "supposedly back from vacation" and finally get thru and request an appointment for the results. The doctor himself says can it wait about 3 weeks. Guess that was not the right thing to say. Guess there ain't no compassion coming from that doctor. My wife got a paralyzed arm because of him and he wants to wait more time.
Well she finally gets an appointment for Friday April 27. We get to the doctor's office and wait about 15 minutes then the office admin comes out and says the doctor was called off to emergency surgery earlier that day and is not seeing any patients today. Supposedly they had called the house to let us know this. Well we had both been at work that day so how are we to know this. Guess you can pretty much figure this was the end of her visiting Dr Kim Wayson anymore. She was out that door faster than I could keep up with her. On the way out the office admin says that she will hold an appointment the following Monday at the same time. Wife ain't coming back in for that one. She isn't going back to him any more.
Bad Doctors - Dr Kim Wayson
Wow! My wife had surgery for a bulging disc in her neck on March 19th. Well according to the neurosurgeon the surgery was a success and he fixed everything.
Well immediately after waking up my wife said she could not feel her arm.
Here is it more than 6 weeks later and her arm is completely paralyzed, she has no feeling in the arm and has very limited motion of just her wrist.
So much for a successful surgery. Thanks doc, for nothing.
The hospital stay was anything but enjoyable too..what was supposed to be a 24 hour stay turned into a 5 day stay.
Two days after surgery for some reason they could not control the pain so they were constantly monkeying with her pain medicine and had her so zonked out that she fell out of bed and didn't even know it until she woke up in the CAT scanner...
The Physician's Assistant was pretty much an A-hole to my wife. One day he came in and since she was so zonked out on the pain medicine decided to take her off it completely because he "could not do his job". I guess if your job is to be an a-hole taking someone off pain meds' won't change that for you cuz you're still an a-hole in the end.
Well immediately after waking up my wife said she could not feel her arm.
Here is it more than 6 weeks later and her arm is completely paralyzed, she has no feeling in the arm and has very limited motion of just her wrist.
So much for a successful surgery. Thanks doc, for nothing.
The hospital stay was anything but enjoyable too..what was supposed to be a 24 hour stay turned into a 5 day stay.
Two days after surgery for some reason they could not control the pain so they were constantly monkeying with her pain medicine and had her so zonked out that she fell out of bed and didn't even know it until she woke up in the CAT scanner...
The Physician's Assistant was pretty much an A-hole to my wife. One day he came in and since she was so zonked out on the pain medicine decided to take her off it completely because he "could not do his job". I guess if your job is to be an a-hole taking someone off pain meds' won't change that for you cuz you're still an a-hole in the end.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Cold Fusion and such
Never thought I'd be learning things like ColdFusion. When I first started learning it I thought geez, what a pathetic language not much you can do with it. Well I've been working with CF for about 8 months now and WOW I'm amazed at what YOU CAN DO with it. I originally thought oh, it's just an extension of HTML...Dang was I wrong. I am definitely liking ColdFusion MX7.
Never thought I would have to learn any form of C either, geez! Without ActionScript in ColdFusion I just don't know how you could create very useful sites.
Some sites I have come to frequent in my quest for ColdFusion-ness...
Ray Camden's Blog
AS Fusion
Their blog and examples on flash remoting have helped me immensely!
Dream in Code
I had orignally wanted to start doing stuff in ASP.NET but was told by my boss at Comcast to use ColdFusion. At first I was not too happy about it. But from the server level I have to admit I think CF is much more friendly to the server than ASP.NET ever will be.
Being able to put forms together using Flash is really cool. I know some of you out there have already been doing it for quite some time. I have been a traditional programmer for the last 12 years shunning all things web-related. Guess I was just stupid!
Never thought I would have to learn any form of C either, geez! Without ActionScript in ColdFusion I just don't know how you could create very useful sites.
Some sites I have come to frequent in my quest for ColdFusion-ness...
Ray Camden's Blog
AS Fusion
Their blog and examples on flash remoting have helped me immensely!
Dream in Code
I had orignally wanted to start doing stuff in ASP.NET but was told by my boss at Comcast to use ColdFusion. At first I was not too happy about it. But from the server level I have to admit I think CF is much more friendly to the server than ASP.NET ever will be.
Being able to put forms together using Flash is really cool. I know some of you out there have already been doing it for quite some time. I have been a traditional programmer for the last 12 years shunning all things web-related. Guess I was just stupid!
Friday, March 23, 2007
New JOB! and some old job commentary
I've now been with Comcast about 15 months and loving it every day. Anything after my last job is a cakewalk. I've forgotten/blocked out of my mind most everything about that job.
I basically get to do much of what I love again. Which is PROGRAMMING!!!!!!
I had never worked on web sites before or programmed them prior to working with Comcast. Now I'm doing quite a bit of work in ColdFusion and have been scouring sites for good techniques and have come across one that I have learned a lot from: ASFusion I never thougth that web programming was so easy. Before Comcast I just never understood it to the degree I'm finally understanding it.
I am learning to like being in IT again. I have to admit the pay just isn't what it was 5 years ago but at least it's work.
It beats the 2 years I was unemployed after working at Alcatel for 12 years and all 750 of us got laid off...That SUCKED!
I basically get to do much of what I love again. Which is PROGRAMMING!!!!!!
I had never worked on web sites before or programmed them prior to working with Comcast. Now I'm doing quite a bit of work in ColdFusion and have been scouring sites for good techniques and have come across one that I have learned a lot from: ASFusion I never thougth that web programming was so easy. Before Comcast I just never understood it to the degree I'm finally understanding it.
I am learning to like being in IT again. I have to admit the pay just isn't what it was 5 years ago but at least it's work.
It beats the 2 years I was unemployed after working at Alcatel for 12 years and all 750 of us got laid off...That SUCKED!
No longer with the WITCH
Wow it's been quite some time since I did anything at all on the blog.
Back in Dec 2005 got a new job in IT with Comcast....Yeah!!!!!!!
The day I told my witch of a boss that I was leaving was her last day just before going on a 3 week vacation! Boy did that sting when I told her. Guess I couldn't have timed that any better. So my last 2 weeks at the job were the best I had in the whole 2 year I was there. I actually got work done and did not have someone looking over my shoulder for all day.
Back in Dec 2005 got a new job in IT with Comcast....Yeah!!!!!!!
The day I told my witch of a boss that I was leaving was her last day just before going on a 3 week vacation! Boy did that sting when I told her. Guess I couldn't have timed that any better. So my last 2 weeks at the job were the best I had in the whole 2 year I was there. I actually got work done and did not have someone looking over my shoulder for all day.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Not a bad day
Well the other day, the boss who always ragged on me for coming one and two minutes before I'm supposed to be there showed up 30 minutes late. She had no idea I was already in the office and noticed her come in SO late! I just popped up from around a corner and surprised her. She had no idea what to say. I caught her so off guard it was great to catch her. She did not know what to say when I caught her.
Seems more and more of my job is about spying on the people I work with than actually administering a network. She has me set up all sorts of stuff on the proxy server just to see who hits what web sites so she can go to their boss and tell on them. I'm sorry but I don't think that's what I got into IT for. To me I find it very unethical. Cuz she only does it to certain people.
The other day a whole lot of the guys at one of our remotes sites started visiting deansplanet.com looking the nip slips. Lo-and-behold even the vice president of the site was doing viewing it with the underling. But did she get after him. No she only went after the underling that could not do anything about it.
Seems more and more of my job is about spying on the people I work with than actually administering a network. She has me set up all sorts of stuff on the proxy server just to see who hits what web sites so she can go to their boss and tell on them. I'm sorry but I don't think that's what I got into IT for. To me I find it very unethical. Cuz she only does it to certain people.
The other day a whole lot of the guys at one of our remotes sites started visiting deansplanet.com looking the nip slips. Lo-and-behold even the vice president of the site was doing viewing it with the underling. But did she get after him. No she only went after the underling that could not do anything about it.
Saturday, March 12, 2005
My new blog
Well this is my first attemp at a blog. I hope to add my thoughts on working for what I consider to be the pointy-haired female boss.
I am an IT techcnician for a lumber company. I have been working for the same company for the past year and have not really enjoyed any of my time there.
I would love to quit my job and go somewhere else, unfortunately with the economy as it is. Changing jobs isn't as easy as it was three years ago.
In a previous life I worked for a telecommunications company for 12 years until the company shut down due to the telecom bust in 2001. Personally I had planned on retiring from the company, guess all the telecom greats had a different plan. You know the one's: 360 Networks; Global Crossing and MCI.
Have you ever had a boss that when they asked you a question they've already got an answer but just want to see if you are going to lie to them? Well that's the kind of boss I've got. Fun, huh?
I've always thought I could get along with almost anyone in this great world of ours. My point-haired boss has proven me wrong on this one.
I guess our office is called The Dungeon for a reason. Cuz it's torture every day I work there. To be honest the only thing that keeps me going back every day is the fact that I've got a wife and 4 kids, so it's not like I can just up and quit.
Well in the next few days and/or weeks I'll start relaying some of the stupid stuff my boss comes up with.
Well that's it for now.
I am an IT techcnician for a lumber company. I have been working for the same company for the past year and have not really enjoyed any of my time there.
I would love to quit my job and go somewhere else, unfortunately with the economy as it is. Changing jobs isn't as easy as it was three years ago.
In a previous life I worked for a telecommunications company for 12 years until the company shut down due to the telecom bust in 2001. Personally I had planned on retiring from the company, guess all the telecom greats had a different plan. You know the one's: 360 Networks; Global Crossing and MCI.
Have you ever had a boss that when they asked you a question they've already got an answer but just want to see if you are going to lie to them? Well that's the kind of boss I've got. Fun, huh?
I've always thought I could get along with almost anyone in this great world of ours. My point-haired boss has proven me wrong on this one.
I guess our office is called The Dungeon for a reason. Cuz it's torture every day I work there. To be honest the only thing that keeps me going back every day is the fact that I've got a wife and 4 kids, so it's not like I can just up and quit.
Well in the next few days and/or weeks I'll start relaying some of the stupid stuff my boss comes up with.
Well that's it for now.
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