Tag: doctor

It’s an age thing. #health #doctor

It’s an age thing.

Walking into the doctor’s office, the music blaring through the “system” was very upbeat. In fact listening to it made me jittery.

By nature, I am a calm and collected person. Easy going is an understatement.

Each and every song that played had some repetitive rap component mixed in with the “music.”

Waiting in a doctor’s lounge is tough enough in that they are never on time. Arriving there in a timely fashion is part of the deal and waiting for an extra 30 to 45 minutes after your appointment is also “part of the deal.” Their time is valuable and yours, well…not so much!

The waiting is not what was bothering me however as I had my “smart phone” to entertain me. At issue, however, was this hideous music that was getting under my skin much like poison ivy or a horrible sunburn, you can tolerate it for just so long and then it just pisses you off!

The lyrics were not understandable and as I said the beat was such that it by itself was making me jittery.

I found myself thinking that I might need to find another doctor. If this is the new norm, screw it!

One already feels bad going to the doctor, forced to endure that bullshit, I don’t need!

Leaving on the drive home, thinking back to my parents yelling at me to shut my door or turn that “shit” down; I had to laugh. It could be that it is simply an age thing, and now what folks listen to today is “shit” to me.

Turning on the XM to 70’s music, I calmed, returning my blood pressure to where it belonged.

People today suffer from high blood pressure and one has to wonder how much of it is caused by the music that they listen to.

My Two Cents

-Best

State of the Union & What’s Next! #thefive

With unemployment numbers at 5.8 percent and the Dow Jones closing at record highs, one has to wonder why polls show that Americans are worried about the economy.

“There are three kinds of lies: Lies, damned lies and statistics!”

The truth about unemployment is that once you fall off of the unemployment benefits you are no longer considered unemployed, thus you are no longer part of the statistic. If you are under employed; you are still employed and thus no longer a statistic. If the truth was told, unemployment would be around 20%, higher in the African American community.

The racial divide in this country is mostly a fictitious agenda foisted upon us by people who stand to benefit from there being one. Much like the fabled war on women, it suited the Democratic party for there to be one, so they invented it, sold it to the American people under the precepts that men hated women and just wanted them barefoot pregnant and in the kitchen or we wanted to take away their right to vote and or drive or whatever nonsense that they could dream up! Most any man knows that if momma isn’t happy, aint nobody happy! “Momma” by the way can be a metaphor for “the women of the house.”

The plan worked; it helped get Obama elected to a second term and got Sandra Fluke name recognition which will be someone to watch in the future for the political arena, or to take Rosie’s place on the View, when too many people get tired of her nonsense.

I bet her parents are proud. Really, you get on national TV and tell the world that you want taxpayers to pay for your $6 birth control pills! I can’t get into the liberal mindset however. California is one of the most screwed up states in the union, yet they keep electing those that are responsible!

While the war on women and racial strife propagated by this administration was to divert your attention from the “real issues of the day.” Sadly it worked.

Benghazi and our people were not protected or vindicated. Fast and Furious turned into “they acted stupidly and if I had a son!” America was played by the ideas of Saul Alinsky in rules for radicals and “never let a crisis go to waste.” What if you don’t have a crisis when you need one, invent one or don’t send help when it was needed. Look, there is a video on YouTube which some might find offensive, make that a talking point with the main stream media which is full of sycophants’, all wanting a one-on-one interview with the president, or first question at the press briefing and have no journalistic integrity left what so ever! They have traded it for ratings.

I picture Obama sitting at his desk with a bird cage in the corner, containing a bald eagle. The cage is just large enough for the eagle to barely fit. At the bottom of the cage is a journalism diploma covered in poop, and in his lap is some small dog with the head of some main stream journalist of whose diploma is in that bird cage.

No sitting president has ever weighed in on such issues and this president has been a lighting bolt for this type of activity! His efforts to foment racial tension have actually been one of his most successful endeavors! Between him, Jessie Jackson Jr. and Good old Al, we have racial tensions at an all time high. Mr. Sharpton is reported as owing over $4.5 million in back taxes, why is he not in jail? Who is protecting him?

If blood is spilled over this Ferguson deal, they will all have it on their hands. Of course if it starts looking bad for them, they will all slither off, and deny ever being there. Kind of like Nancy Pelosi disavowing any knowledge of who Gruber is.

If you don’t know who Gruber is, you are watching or reading the wrong news.

The truth about Obama Care came out from the creator or architect of it, bragging about how stupid Americans are. If you tell them there is a Santa Clause; they will believe you! You can keep your doctor and health plan and it will be cheaper. Enough people that know nothing of math believed it; and voted for the regime that created it and installed it against the will of the American people. When they found out just how much they were lied to about that and other things well, there was a “wave” of unhappy voters. Of course the disillusioned voters sent a message too, by simply staying home.

That has not slowed Prince Obama down though. No, Thursday night he will announce some executive action that is well beyond his constitutional powers “and he knows it” allowing 5 million “undocumented aliens” in the country to register and work here. While the voters clearly want him to stop he is thinking that the vote was really telling him to plow ahead at full speed!

Who really wants this? Who benefits from it?

The American people don’t want it. Even after all of the spin the liberal media has done, most Americans don’t think that this is a good idea. At least they are thinking… except of course for the 14% who had no opinion! 14 percent of you have no opinion? What color is the sky in the world that you are living in?

How do you think that someone comes up with a billion dollars to use in a campaign?

We already have a high number of unemployed Americans in this country. Because of Obamacare, companies are trying to skirt the law and hire more part time folks than full time. If you bring in 5 million more people, who need jobs, into this economy; you now create more competition for the few jobs that are here already.

With that many more “workers” you have people who have had a tough life and lived in shanty towns, so to speak, and will do it again putting many families in single family dwellings where Americans are used to going to college, getting a decent job and moving out of mom and dad’s house, into an apartment or buying their own place. These kids are returning home living in the room that they grew up in! Mom and dad are supporting them again and don’t even get the puny tax break, which was something!

Not only do you have more competition for the jobs out there but, you know that these folks will get government assistance; their kids will need schooling which the taxpayers will pay for. They will need housing which I can bet the taxpayers will subsidize and medical assistance which may be simply to overwhelm the emergency rooms of this country.

His plan will act like a magnet to other countries who know that the border is not only porous but, we pick you up and give you a ride to the processing center!

How many people can the country absorb?
How many cheap workers do companies need to be competitive?
How many of these do the Democrats hope to turn into voters?
Will the voter ID laws become a hot topic in 18 months or so?
What happens to the Americans who pay taxes who can’t find a job?
How much debt is too much before we default?
At what point Mr. Gruber, will this country fold as our money will become worthless? How much money can you print before we use it to wipe our backsides with it, as we can’t afford toilette paper!? Well Mr MIT smart guy?

Americans are not stupid by the way…

We have all we can do to make the rent each month, pay for groceries and keep the kids in shoes. We are currently experiencing a small reprieve from gasoline prices; although I have noticed that those prices are going back up as we get close to thanksgiving.

We send people to Washington to represent us so we can pay attention to the things that matter to us; family, friends and taking care of our own. While we are generous to a fault, to steal from our kids and their kids, to serve some hidden agenda; is reprehensible. Your Actions Mr Gruber and Mr prince Obama, have consequences.

There are companies out there who utilize unemployment benefits to keep their employees viable during down time in the economy. They furlough them while orders are slow and then bring them back after there is a backlog of work. These are not small companies by the way, these are giants in the industry, hidden under some sub company of the giant.

There are companies who hire folks on SSI or welfare, to work one or two days a week being careful not to give them enough hours or money that their employees loose their “taxpayer subsidized form of living.” These companies have egregious hiring practices and get away with it!

There are more companies who take on contract workers who “work” for another company that is in the business of supplying cheap labor. All of this to keep the number of FTE’s under the magic number of 50.

Then there is retail:

They hire many people part time, promise them that after they have been there a while that they see management potential in them and they will be full time! This story is repeated time after time after time. Yes, they get them to work like dogs and pay them minimum wage. When they have their fill of being treated like crap, they move on and there are a dozen more waiting to take their place. After we get 5 million more “legal to work aliens” in the country, do you really think it will help this?! It will be great for the retail giants who need Spanish speaking sales clerks or people to work in the warehouse.

So here is how it will work:

You have to be the “best of the best” to get a decent job in this country that has any benefits and pay to it. Or, you have to “know” someone.

You can get on the government tit and get your free Obama phone, and government subsidized food and health care until that runs out in two more years; or until the country goes bankrupt. You have to be impoverished which I know of people who have purposefully impoverished themselves, to get into the system.

You can get two or three part time jobs, getting about 20 hours a week from each job and maybe make enough to get a cheap apartment, take public transportation or walk and live “survive” frugally!

You get on the government tit, and work at jobs where you are payed in cash so there is no paper trail anywhere. As far as the “system is concerned” you don’t make any money and are living on the few hundred a month that they give you. It never dawns on them to look and see that your style of living is much better than what it should be.

You can become an inventor and invent something that no one else has thought of, except… it cost tens of thousands of dollars to protect your idea, just in this country; never mind each and every other country in the world where major corporations have some business in that country and can do with your idea as they wish; and they have the means to tie up the case in courts for eons.

You can become an entrepreneur. Start your own business and compete with the big boys.

You can hope and argue against the legalization of drugs and become a drug dealer. There is a huge demand for successful dealers and the margins are great! You can even sample the product and sell your client a little light, they will hopefully never know.

Of course, a slow pay client could cost you your life but, when you deal with an unregulated group of businessmen, what do you expect?

I understand that Chicago and Detroit have some good areas for training in how to do this; the competition however will kill for their clients. If you get killed there, you truly become a statistic. It will never be investigated.

As more and more people become desperate, more and more criminal activity will take place leading to jobs that might be around for a while.

You can become the MAN! You can work for the people that arrest drug dealers, and put them behind bars! That too has its risk as “the man” has little respect in this community.

You can become a jailer, working with the criminal element on a daily basis, being rest assured that there will always be an abundant supply of “product.”

What are the answers?

Jobs to shoot for in trades would be plumber, air conditioning heating, electrician and automobile mechanic or airline mechanic. These folks make good money and will always have work, if they have any ethics and or honor.

A military career might look promising, if you don’t mind being told what to do, and when to do it, having little or no say so about it. There is travel involved, and you do get to work in a team environment. Currently there is no shortage of supply, so you need to be a college grad to qualify as cannon fodder.

IT jobs are being farmed out faster than they can be created. India, the Philippines, and anywhere but here, are where programming and engineering jobs are going.

With tens of thousand of IT folks out of work, the government still allows thousands of H1-B workers in the country each year. If you ever go to a career fair for IT folks you will see thousands of applicants for a half dozen jobs. Somewhere in there a company that farms out IT jobs to such countries as India will come in and negotiate a deal with those companies and money talks! A DBA could easily get a $100K a year. That can be farmed out for a third that, and the “farmer” can still make money!

There are companies out there that you can request a bid on some piece of software that you need developed. They in turn act like the GC on a job, and get it done for you in some corner of the world at a competitive cost and yes; there is enough in it that they make money acting as the PM and go between.

IT support or customer service is demanding but, requires someone with good communication skills and customer service skills. If you settle for cheap you get a reputation like HP had for years. Companies are still working this issue as people in the Philippines are getting better than Peggy in Russia or Kim in India.

Factory jobs too are being farmed out to countries that have horrible human rights issues and no concern for the environment. While we have a president who has stopped the coal industry and hurt many workers and caused our energy prices to sky rocket, that same coal that is so dangerous here is being sold to, you guessed it, China and other third world countries that have no tree huggers, no Sierra Club and no EPA. Magically, all of this global warming talk has nothing to do with selling coal to countries that could care less about pollution. Obama must think that the polluted air and green house gasses in China, stay in China!

The obvious choice for anyone with a brain is anything medical. Keep in mind that they are lowering the standards for doctors and nurses so you truly can be tomorrow’s “worst doctor,” and still get called doctor! With millions of new people being dumped into an already over utilized system, medical professionals will be in high demand! If you have a penchant to play god, (most doctors that I have worked with felt as if they were gods,) this field might be for you. Nurse or medical technician or dentistry is a field worth looking into as well.

I fear that this has been in the works for sometime as they have been working on reforming law suites regarding mal practice for years. Tomorrow; when you go to the worst doctor in the world, and he screws you up, you won’t be able to sue him.

Here is a billion dollar idea!

I have always felt that owning a tattoo removal shop would be a burgeoning business. You could actually have both, have one shop where they put the tattoos on, and another in an upscale part of town where they can be removed! You could even sell insurance that if you got the tattoo and later decided that you did not like it, or changed your mind, you could go to the other shop and get it removed, for free; if you kept up your modest yearly insurance fee. You could make a deal with other tattoo shops to sell your insurance for you, and they get a commission for selling it! You get the yearly renewals.

The insurance would be “per tattoo” and underwritten by the size, colors used, type of skin and whatever other technicality that that industry could think of.

People are mutilating themselves in wholesale fashion so maybe even offer a clinic where this type of thing can be “undone.” Plastic surgery could have a whole new line of business besides boobs, butts, and tummy tucks!

Salesman is a vocation that requires good people skills, and communication skills. If you are good, you can make a nice living. Being a sales person would require that people can afford to buy what you are selling.

There are always government jobs. The IRS is going to need a lot of new folks to administer Obama care so this is a place to apply to today!

And lastly for this diatribe, you could be a politician! It requires the ability to act and have little or no scruples. Most politicians were once lawyers. Most doctors and lawyers deserve every joke that has ever been written about them.

I used to do field service. During that time I dealt with lots of both! I dealt with some of the most famous doctors you would ever want to know, as well as some of the most notorious lawyers that you might want representing you, if you had screwed up.

To me that was always a “tell” as to if the guy was innocent or guilty. Take OJ Simpson for instance. He had the dream team and he got off! Why did he need the dream team if he were truly innocent?

I once had a lawyer confide in me that it was easier for him to get you off, if he knew that you were guilty than if you were innocent. This was a very high profile attorney which If I mentioned his name you would know it. Between the OJ Simpson trial and that statement, I lost a lot of respect for the “system.” It was truly “justice” is for those that can afford it. Justice of course not being truly about what justice is, actually quite the opposite.

I had another lawyer who met me at the door who was totally apoplectic! He looked as though you might expect a rabid dog to look before it bit your head off! He had never met me before but he wanted to scare me into believing that he was all kinds of bad and I had better do my best for him! They sent me in to deal with customers who were pissed off by someone else, as I could “fix things.” I could make nice with the customer and fix things! I stood there and let him rant for over 5 minutes, I took out a notepad and acted as though I were making notes while he quite literally spit on me, while he was expounding his thoughts about my company, our product and where he thought that our company rated. After he started winding down as he was not getting the desired response from me, I asked him point blank; “are you finished?”

His demeanor changed immediately, he had been acting as I suspected. He actually reached up and wiped some of his spittle off my face and then, we went about taking care of his problems. Another such lawyer, a woman, pretty much gave me the same treatment. She told me flat out that she was a bitch! If I did not “fix” things, she would be my worst nightmare! I extended my hand and she was taken aback at first, and then took mine. As we shook hands, I told her how much I appreciated her sincere honesty!

A smile broke out on her face and from that moment on, I was the only guy that was permitted in her office from my company. For the rest of my years with that company I looked forward to working with her, as she me.

This is where politicians come from. Reagan was the consummate politician, as he was a good actor! Now if we could find another actor with some scruples; that might be a good candidate! Morgan Freeman would make a good president. He has many believing every week that he knows something about physics! Besides, I really like his voice? Have you ever noticed that when you read something that they wrote you read it in their voice? I Digress…

So, what’s next and why is Obama rushing this immigration stuff?

The last thing on his agenda, probably one of his last promises to those that put him in office or who control him now, is climate change!

Why, does he care about green house gas? Does he really know anything about it? If he can make something happen who would benefit from it?

In order for someone to benefit financially, someone has to spend money. Al Gore has lost most credibility but they may drag him out again to see if he can convince you that there are no more polar bears and all the penguins are turning into BBQ. Who knows what crazy crap they will come up with and what Pelosi or Reid will say? One lies and the other one swears to it.

Here is the problem and the reason for the rush on immigration. What he is doing is illegal. The republicans are going to have to spend a lot of time and juice in chipping away at Obama Care and they are going to have to spend a lot of time dealing with his immigration antics which will leave him time to further is final agenda. During this same time there is an election in which the Republicans are going to try and get a candidate into office. The main stream media will spend their time excoriating the republicans at each and every chance and we know that they have a little less than half the country watching them. Fox will continue to try and keep up however there are a lot of things in the air which is what this administration wants. And let’s not forget about the Middle East and any disruptions and or killings there. If there are too many targets, it all turns into noise; and the public tunes out. Football or any other type of sport wins out and American Looses!

Never waste a Crisis…!

The bottom line to this last 6 years and future 2 years will be higher energy prices, and people like Warren Buffett getting at least 7 years of hauling tar sands and oil and what have you on his railroad. They may even use his rail road to haul parts for the pipeline!

The Keystone will pass early next year and many of the workers will most probably be immigrants from you guessed it, tomorrow’s executive order. So instead of Americans getting a decent salary, they will use Mexicans as slaves, and put them on jobs paying them less than what they would have to pay the 46,000 Americans.

Republicans will have their hands full creating legislation for Barack Obama to Veto as they will be fully engaged in making the Democrats look bad “like they would have to try,” so Hillary won’t have a chance. They will try and stop Obama and like I said, chip away at the things that he has created but, basically nothing will get accomplished of any consequence as remember, politics is all about raising money and campaigning!

The damage from this administration will take years to undo. There is going to be $20,000,000,000,000.00 of debt and this administration is responsible for half of it! When the president took office the national debt was $10.6 T.

Obama will have fundamentally transformed America. The next President will have one hell of a job on his or her hands. There is no telling where this President and his wife will retire, but my bet would be Dubai. Once there he can try to be a king or at least prince, as he will have experience!

Don’t agree? Leave a comment and let’s talk about it. Just keep it clean if you want a response.

-Best

Drivers Beware …

I am unsure if the stars are out of kilter, the moon is lined up incorrectly or if people are just out of sorts however; yesterday was a bad day for drivers in general.

Here in Texas; yesterday was a normal spring day by all accounts. The weather was nice, mid 60’s and sunny, open window weather for most of us.

There were accidents where I usually don’t see them, which was odd.

While going to clients yesterday I just about had the opportunity to test the air bags as some young blond women in a red Mercedes, “nice car,” ran the light right in front of me! She had a phone stuck to her ear and never saw me. Even as I came to a screeching halt she never looked. I shook my head and was thankful that my breaks worked so well.

My truck would have made a mess of her paint and might have scratched my bumper had a hit her. Actually 7000 pounds at 30mph in the side of her car would have made a mess. I wonder if she would have looked up then.

The Day was not over for idiotic drivers. I had dinner plans which took me to an out of the way restaurant. While parking some guy started backing out of his spot and came close to backing in to me. When I tooted my horn to alert him I could see him screaming at me “I guess” through his window. He then waved the traditional one finger salute and sped off.

My only guess is that he is not a Texan, as we really are a little friendlier than that. It was all his doing and I did not honk to be mean, just simply alert him that he was about to hit me. “That is what they made the horn for.” We are not talking a long horn blast either we are talking a “tap.”

They serve alcohol where I was going so I can only surmise that he had been drinking and his better judgment was impaired, or he is a jerk.

That is the reason for this “blog”..

As we guide our thousands of pounds of steel down the highways and roads we really need to be mindful that they are really “loaded guns.” In a split second of indecision or distraction, we can take a life, if not our own, someone else’s.

While the girl in the Mercedes was not texting, she was clearly distracted. If someone other than I was in that intersection that also was either not on their game or driving too fast or texting or otherwise distracted, thousands of dollars of damage would have ensued. Damage to her personally could have happened and possibly me, as it would have been an abrupt stop. I don’t know how solid a Mercedes passenger door is but, it might have triggered my air bags which would have sucked, because I heard that they hurt!

The guy that cussed me in the parking lot is another story. People in Texas carry loaded guns. An armed society is a polite society “don’t you know.” You really don’t want to bring your “northern attitude” down to Texas and pick a fight. WE DON’T SCREW AROUND HERE IN TEXAS! Drive friendly or else! If you decide to drink and drive and then come at a Texan with an Attitude, YOU WILL LOOSE! Our Prisons are full of your kind. Be responsible if you come to Texas. We will welcome you with open arms, if you are a jerk; you will not like it here.

About 25 years ago one day in November I was met head on with a guy driving a vintage Cadillac. His wife had just bought it for him as he whined about wanting another car because he had wrecked his previous car. “I learned this later on from her directly.”

We were on the freeway, I topped a hill and there he was, barreling down the road at over 60mph, on the wrong side of the freeway!

Friends, when you see something like this and you have exactly enough time to say “oh $hit!” followed by a large bang, your day gets ruined quickly!

In the few milliseconds between seeing him, and the subsequent crash, several things happened.

I quickly noticed a red truck beside me in the right lane, slammed on the breaks “locked up anti-lock breaks and actually bent the brake pedal, and then the crash.

Funny thing about a crash; time seemed to fragment. It was almost as if one were watching a movie in slow motion as the film went by, frame by frame.

My personal theory is time is like a frequency. It has to do with gravity and motion and space and what have you but, the crash had somehow caused a ripple or harmonic. Don’t know enough math to prove that; and I am certain that Michio Kaku could not come up with the equation either. This is far past p=mv or F=ma.

I have heard that adrenaline causes this “effect.” If adrenaline can cause “time distortions, ” than we have discovered how to slow down time. While I am certain that there was a “shot of adrenaline we are talking about less than a second from seeing him there and the crash!

As we hit head on, the window beside me imploded. Tiny pieces of glass tumbled horizontally in front of me to my right. I remember vividly watching the glass tumble as past from left to right, I felt each piece bury itself in my face, arm and hands. The steering wheel came in and crushed into my face and chest breaking my nose and most of ribs and sternum. “That bone between the ribs up front.”

The dash came in, crushed into me knees and legs. I distinctly remember the pain as my left leg was punched up under me, torquing my hips in such a way that the sacrum is twisted to this day. This is how it happened and the order in which it happened, all in a split second.

There is a Star Trek Movie where Picard is with some gal who teaches him to “live in the moment.” Friends, I think they got the idea for that from someone who has experienced this very phenomena, as that is exactly what it was like however; “and I stress this,” it was not pleasant!

I had just stopped at a service station before this and filled up not only my gas, but my stainless steel thermos full of coffee. The thermos was sitting beside me. As the truck went from 55mph to zero in about .025 seconds or less, the thermos tumbled down to the floor. Little did I know at the time, the thermos had wedged itself between the firewall of the truck; and the frame of my seat! I in fact have legs today because of that thermos and the fact that it was full of coffee. Has something to do with hydraulics, if you are scratching you head.

As the truck came to a rest in the middle of the median, steam and Freon and what have you escaped from what used to be my engine which was now sitting underneath my seat.

The pain in my chest was unbelievable, and very soon after that, blood started coming out from everywhere, nose, mouth ears and of course where lots of glass was now buried up under my skin.

Very soon after that I began to loose my vision and figured well, this is it. “Jesus, if this is your plan, I’m ready.”

I struggled with the seat belt, while I was still conscious thinking if I could get it off, the pain would subside and maybe, just maybe I could breath, no such luck.

There was no time for anger, or fear. I was consigned to the fact that this was most likely it and I was waiting for the final “sting.”

Before too long, someone came to my door asking me if I was OK. I turned my head to look at him, he had a camera and was evidently a free lance photographer. As I spoke I remember blood escaping my mouth spurting, punctuated by my words, “no, I don’t think so.”

I must have looked a sight as the picture that made the front page of the local paper was of them taking me out of my truck.. For that I am thankful.

I remember watching as they took the old man out of his car and put him on a stretcher. Not too long after that I heard loud sounds as they were cutting my door off of my truck and extracting me out of what was left of it. As they laid me horizontally on that “board” my vision returned. Hmm I thought, maybe he has another plan.

The man in the ambulance told me that he was going to stick me in the arm and it would hurt as it was an 18 gauge needle. The needle paled in comparison and quite frankly I was OK with it as if I felt it, I was still alive. He told me they were putting “sugar water” in me… “Ok…..Fill er up…”I said as best I could! He smiled as I said that, I knew that things were going to be ok…

The trip to the hospital was uneventful and before long I was being wheeled to some ER room.

The ER visit was terrible. The doctor was summoned in from his day off. He was wearing sports attire and clearly distressed that he was missing the game or what have you. His bedside manners were terrible and quite frankly he sucked!

You know what they call the guy who graduates with the lowest grades from medical school, “Doctor.”

While there, a curtain divided me from the man who hit me. He was drunk and later I learned he was on several medications that he should not have had alcohol with. Oh yes, he was in his 80’s!

We had the perfect storm for a disaster and it struck. He was not wearing a seat belt and because of his inebriated state only ended up with a small cut on his forehead which required a few stitches.

My care was abysmal. After they took care of the old man they came “by they I mean an entourage of police, some “want to be doctor women” and the rude guy with the sports attire.” They ripped, cut my clothing off. The paramedic was also there and the cop was telling the doctor that I did not have my seat belt on. I told him that I had taken it off and he said “sure.”

I think that they somehow wanted this to be my fault, some how some way.

As my shirt was removed there was a huge purple stripe where the seat belt had cut into my skin through my clothes and across my belly. The trooper was visibly upset as I think he wanted to write a ticket. I want to preface this next remark by saying that I have huge respect for law enforcement folks. I know several and am friends with several. I listen to the scanner, a lot, as I like to know what is going on that the press does not think is newsworthy. Having said that, some cops are simply assholes! The guy that caused this was on the other side of the curtain and he “the cop” was giving me shit… I am laying there in pain, bleeding from everywhere, and this guy is looking for something to write me a ticket about or blame me in some way.

The “doctor” treated me like a cadaver flipping me over, was rather brutal and really did not take into account that most of my ribs were broken. His final “test” was to stick a finger up my rear. I really don’t know where he went to school but I can tell you that is probably the one place that it did not hurt. Of course everyone watched the entire process.

You know my part in this; I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. God knew where I was so, I have to guess that all of this happened for a reason.

The old man had lived in this town his entire life and was most likely known; I was an outsider and relatively young so guess what “it just had to be my fault.”

Other than the sugar water they did nothing for me. Other than leaving me naked on the table for all of the gawkers, nothing. I was waiting for the doctor to start filling out a toe tag, as they were doing nothing! I was in pain, probably scared although that the time I was more pissed than scared. I worked in the Texas Medical Center for fifteen years. I know what professional care is and I know what a real doctor does in a trauma situation. This wasn’t it!

He finally ordered x-rays and a sonogram of my chest. Finally, some orderly came along and gave me a wool blanket. Someone had some compassion but not the people that should have.

It is cold in ICU and it was winter, and oh yes, they were pumping me full of something cold. “Sugar water.” I guess it is “hummingbird therapy.” Isn’t that what they eat, sugar water? Oh, and did I mention I was naked! Beat all to hell, naked and shivering is a terrible combination. I would imagine there was also a “shock factor” involved as well.

This was clearly the hospital without funding as the equipment was a joke; it would not stay in place and kept moving after the tech would place it.

Wheeling one around on a gurney, “which way are you looking?” You look straight up, at the ceiling. The ceiling had several brown stains from leaks and what have you. How much mold do you suppose is loose in that hospital? Folks, if you run a hospital, look at the damned ceiling once in a while. This was the basement where the morgue and radiology was. If the ceiling in the basement is stained with dark brown stains from leakage, what leaked?

The old man was released that day and I got to stay in ICU for about a week before I was moved to a room. I did not sleep for 72 hours. I entertained myself by using biofeedback techniques to alter my heart beat. I once got it so slow I scared myself. One of the leads came off and the monitor went to that “solid beep.” Twenty two minutes later someone showed up running to my bed to check on the reason. I had a solid beep for twenty two minutes before they noticed! Now you know why I was afraid to sleep!

Some doctor (dentist I think) came and stitched up my lip where my teeth had come through, another came and tried to straighten my nose without any kind of pain management. Huge forceps up the nose with this guy twisting on it, without so much as an aspirin.

They did not do anything for my pain as they were worried that it would adversely affect my heart which had been “bruised”. I had to take little breaths as it hurt to breathe. I could not turn my head because of vertigo. I could not lift the sheets to pee as I could not lift my arms. When they pump you full of saline solution you have to pee a lot. I had to have help each and every time; you would have thought that they would have installed a catheter.

On the third day in ICU I asked to be cleaned up because even with the broken nose I could smell myself. The busted glass was still in my hide, my body was still covered in blood and my beard / mustache was caked in blood. The nurse said she would have to shave my face as there was no way to get blood out of my beard… REALLY? I told her, whatever just please get me cleaned up; I was going to live and if I did not for some reason I damned sure did not want my next of kin to identify a blood covered corpse.

She never did anything.

Would you believe that it was not until I got into a room, days later and was able to take a shower was I able to get “cleaned up.” I dug into my luggage, found my tweezers and dug the glass out of my arm and hands and face myself, after the shower! A male nurse came in as I was finishing up to check on me. There was enough blood from my digging out the glass he got concerned. I told him to get me some bandages but he sent on the doctor anyway. I had not seen the guy since the first day as there were other Erudite s to take his place. He seemed visibly upset that I had taken the glass out of myself. I am unsure if he was upset with me or the fact that it was still there.

The entire time I was there they kept asking me “what I was on.” I guess they thought that I was on some sort of recreational chemistry and kept confronting me. “No, don’t drink. No, don’t do drugs…” They had taken my blood several times a day for a week and yet they kept asking. Had I been able, I would have walked the hell out of there, it was that bad!

By the end of my stay the doctor was treating me somewhat better as I guess he was finally sure that I was indeed “clean.” They had collected blood and urine for several days, I guess he was satisfied. Maybe it took that long for the tox screen to come back! If you are young it would seem that you are guilty of whatever they decide you might be guilty of.. Small Texas towns… Be wary… BTW, most small Texas towns are speed traps so don’t speed. They depend upon giving tickets for revenue. Now if you are from the north and have attitude, forget what I said and speed all you like. You too can meet some “nice trooper who will address you as “boy or son ” and will have absolutely no use for wise ass remarks from Yankees! Heaven help you if you give them attitude!

The old man and I had the same insurance company so I was lucky to get my bills covered and get what was left of my truck payments covered. She (claims person) argued about the cost of my cooler and camping supplies which were ruined. Looking back, I think that was a distraction from the bigger picture. Pain and suffering was not covered here. Embarrassment and harassment from the locals was certainly not remunerated.

Oh and pain today as a result of this was and is not taken care of either… Insurance is not for your benefit. They sell it as if it is, but trust me, have a claim and you will learn.

When this type of thing happens; nothing good comes of it. I don’t know whatever happened with the guy that hit me, that was 23 years ago so I am in hopes that if he is still alive, that he is not driving.

Insurance claims and such have a life of 2 years. Statute of limitations…

Guess what, after an accident like that, things happen much later in life as a result, like bone spurs and such, which cause pain. You are never normal again after an event like that.

I drive a larger truck today and have little to do with small vehicles. Screw the mileage; if I get had again I want the larger vehicle. I support MADD, and encourage everyone else to as well. I don’t care if you drink, just don’t drive!

If you don’t have a “hands free device” get one, or simply call back, nothing is that important. Oh yes, that bell alerting you that you have a text, ignore it if you are driving. It can wait. Too many times I see people texting and driving. I know that they are doing something because they are weaving or their speed is erratic. Upon closer inspection they are screwing around with the phone. “I drive a truck, I can see.”

This inconsiderate old man changed my life forever. I live in constant pain, and had to quite my job and re-invent myself because I could no longer do my job. “Not compensated for that either BTW.”

Over 30% of all drivers on the road are impaired by either alcohol or prescriptions drugs or “recreational chemistry.” Add to this statistic now we have distractions of people who think that they can drive and text, or what have you.

There is nothing smart about a smart car! I would drive a tank if I could get one.

Actions have consequences… Be safe and courteous and if you are in Texas, don’t speed, drive and text and don’t drink and drive!

Best to you and those that you care about…