"When we all get to heaven . . .

. . . what a day of rejoicing that will be! When we all see Jesus, we'll sing and shout the victory." What does this mean to other people? I think I know what it means to me and I remain very confused about just how that will go. On the one hand, I understand it will likely mean that we will all be brothers and sisters in Christ and we will see each other in that light and love each other as brothers and sisters do. On the other hand, part of me is very sad that upon reuniting with lost loved ones, I will not feel toward them in the same way I felt when we shared an earthly home. The child in me wants my Grandma to always be my Grandma. The young woman in me wants my first husband to love me like a husband. But as those who know me well will attest, I have more than one notch on that belt. What about that? How do you spell "awkward?" So it's easy to see how things can get really complicated. I suppose it's not really worth the time to ponder the issue since when the time comes, it won't matter. Besides, all worrying ever got anybody was more wrinkles in the brow and more gray hair. But it is food for thought. I would be interested in hearing other opinions on the subject.

I wasted a tear today.

I wasted several tears, yesterday as well as today, as a matter of fact. I even spread the sadness around, innocently, unknowingly, as some stain on society sat smugly chuckling to itself over its conquest. What motivates someone to propagate the worst kind of sob story in a forum designed to intertwine lives that only have that 6 degrees of separation? What possible satisfaction can there be in knowing that you have caused several, maybe hundreds or more, people to shed needless tears and to send unceasing prayers for a 22 month old child that does not exist, never shot himself in the chest with an electric nail gun, and never pierced his heart? I would suggest that wherever you are, you watch your back because Karma is the worst kind of bitch. I also hope that it bites you squarely on your conniving, heartless, worst kind of pond scum, ass.

A response to a classmate who thinks that poor folks have to use the ER like a clinic

I understand and respect your viewpoint on the subject. Can you understand and respect that I have seen far too much from the other side? I actually took a call one night from a citizen who wanted a county 911 ambulance, a Mobile Intensive Care, Advanced Cardiac Life Support unit, to take her to Walgreens to pick up a prescription. Not only did she expect that $400.00 taxi ride, she was 9 kinds of pissed off when I told her that the county did not provide that kind of service.

Only in an Emergency Room can someone waltz into a business and announce that they are there to steal the services of trained professionals, and then have the ironclad juevos to complain because the very services they are there to steal are not provided within their defined time frame. And, they don't just complain, they complain loudly, indignantly, nastily, snidely, and sometimes even threaten the very lives of those trained professionals whose services they are there to steal! And trust me, it IS stealing when one takes something with no intentions of ever paying a dime for it. Many of these people who complain the loudest, the longest, and the most self-righteously, get tired of waiting and just leave. What does THAT tell you? It tells me that their so-called emergency . . . well . . . I guess it wasn't that much of an emergency after all, now was it? OK, so one argument is that the ER should provide services for people because it is the humanitarian thing to do, right?

Think of it this way . . . . . Just try and walk into a pharmacy, demand that your prescription for blood pressure medication be filled, and filled quickly, and announce that you do not have the money to pay for it, nor any kind of insurance to cover the cost of the medication, and just see how quickly your prescription is filled for you, because, after all, it is the humanitarian thing to do. I dare say you would be escorted out the door without any consideration of your humanitarian rights whatsoever.

The hospital where I work (a not-for-profit) nearly went under financially, because of the astronomical levels of indigent care that is provided there. The very neighborhood where the hospital is located has a huge demographic of indigent and illegals living within a close proximity of the campus and so we see far more than our fair share of that demographic. I don't mean to sound so jaded, but what I described above is not the exception, it is the rule for most every day. I have worked in our ER and I know firsthand how the days (and nights) can go. Not a single one of us minds taking care of true emergencies, whether they are legal or illegal, indigent or filthy rich, black, white, brown, green or purple, a life is a life, and each life is important and genuinely cherished. That's why we are nurses. I have seen (and participated in) the entire staff (including doctors, nurses, secretaries, business office staff, and techs) sob uncontrollably over losing a precious little life, all while moving along with caring for the rest of the patients. And I have seen a patient get highly belligerent because that little life was taken back to a room and treated ahead of him, the insensitive prick! It is that perspective from which I rant, and it that little life for which I get weepy, even today, years after the fact. Those kinds of things stay with you for a long time and are nearly impossible to forget.

If I have stepped on toes, or offended anyone with my comments, all I can say is . . . well . . . if the shoe fits . . . as it were. I will not apologize, because sometimes, a different perspective just needs to be pointed out.

Soapbox rant

What has happened to teaching kids how to read, write, spell, and use basic grammar? I am sickened by the pitiful displays of English skills seen almost daily in my online college classroom. I speak not only of the students, but also of some of the instructors. It is painful enough to have to meet the participation requirements by engaging in discussions with folks who have no clue how to use a spell checker, but to have college professors whose grammar and spelling skills are as bad or worse than those of their students' is sheer agony.

I actually had a professor for my "Financial Matters for Health Care Professionals" class who posted the following, "Great job. You did well. Class, everyone must have a budget-business or personal. But there are ethical issues with a business who does not act physically responsible because they employee people who depend on their jobs. What would happen if they did not have a budget and operate in it?"
That was her reply to the student who posted this, "I think budgeting among not only companies in the health care industry, but also every business sector in the world."

Maybe I am just being picky but, where do I begin???? Should I start with the student who wrote that incomplete thought . . . or with the instructor who replied that the student did a "great job" and "did well?" I would just like for someone to explain to me how to "employee" someone. And please do not make me even talk about acting physically responsible! Physically? Really???? Surely . . . please, oh please tell me, that a college level instructor who teaches any kind of a class on finance, is at least required to know the difference between physical and fiscal responsibility. Maybe my standards are just too high?

Then there was the professor who used a spell/grammar check program to grade papers and would simply copy whatever the program told him was incorrect, then post it to the student as his feedback on a paper. I guess he was too busy to actually read the papers submitted by his students. The first paper I submitted to this professor had points taken off because he said I had a sentence fragment. This was because the program he used told him that it was a fragment because it read the period after lbs. as the end of a sentence. Had I been dinged for using an abbreviation within an academic paper, I would have no quarrel.

The following quote was taken from a student's post in response to the Capstone discussion question for the Financial class. When reading this collection of words, bear in mind that with this post, this student will have completed the requirements for her Associate of Arts degree in Health Care Administration.

"You have to have a budget to help with the spending expenditures so that all ends are covered. Over spending can cause future outcomes to become downfalls like insufficient profitable loss. Along with other financial accounting responsibilities, an organization will have an effect as a whole on how to operate and maintain the budget, expenses, and cash flow of the organization."

Here are more words of wisdom from the Financial Class for Health Care Professionals. The discussion question reads, "How does discounted cash flow valuation work? How does it differ from the other valuation methods? Why do you think the text refers to discounted cash flow as the valuation method best justified by financial theory?" And the answer from another of my classmates was, "This is a financial theory that the cash flow is approached by the assertion. This is a asset that tells one what is the present value is the cash flow. This will then generates for the owners. Usually the bond market value should equal to the cash flow and it issures the buyers by promising the buyers the equal pay.
One example is that one may buy something that has a good value and hopes that in the future, the value will rise. It may occur but in the same time it may not go the way that one wants it to go. It just depends on the product that was bought. I feel that this is a good value depending what is bought because one may get back what one may have paid but at the same time they may get more than what they have bought it for. If this were to occur, it would be nice for the purchaser."

Sometimes I just have to scream. I have a headache now. Goodnight all!

Seems I should be using this time for something really productive like writing a book or learning a new skill or some other productive endeavor. Maybe if I use this blog medium as a journal of sorts then an inspiration will come to me. I used to be a really creative person, writing poems and parodies, and even started a biography which was some of my best writing. I think I'll try my hand at a short story and see how I do. At least it will be something different to chase away the doldrums. We shall see . . .

Come on over for the pity party!

This crappy routine that has become my life is already tiresome. I detest having to depend on others to do things for me and just wish I could be mobile again. I'm finding pain in all new places besides my injured knee. My hips ache, I have developed tennis elbow and carpal tunnel in my right wrist from sitting and being on the computer all day, but what are my choices? If I try to sit at the desk, I get charley horse cramps in my right leg. When I do have to be up and about, my brace slips and slides and doesn't stay in the proper position, so how much good can it be doing me? I'm just not the happiest camper in the tent.

Stressing!!

I need for each day of this week to be about thirty hours long. Between Michael's graduation and my own schoolwork, I don't think I'm ever gonna get everything done on time. Plus, I have to go to the doctor on Thursday, and dog the steps of the people responsible for sending my paperwork in to Lincoln Financial because they claim they never got it. Sheeesh!!

Oliver North, US Troops Veterans Day Video