Abuse

Abuse is never okay. It doesn't matter if it is child, elder, spousal or animal. Any person who abuses another living being is the lowest form of scum that walks the earth. To my way of thinking that individual should be exposed at least to the same intensity of abuse that they inflicted.

Some will say that these individuals were possibly the victims of abuse themselves. Well that may be so but it still does not justify them abusing others. To me the ultimate punishment should be death, not rehabilitation not jail time but death. They are not human; they are lower than any form of life and therefore do not deserve to live.

Being Unemployed

The first time I was unemployed, I was heavily in debt and worked really really hard at looking for another job. In fact, I almost ran out of benefits before I actually found a job.

It was a humbling experience. Even though I had worked since I was 18 years old, every time I met with the people at the unemployment office, they made me feel like I was taking money from their pockets. They interviewed people at their own pace and treated you like you were scum.

The second time, I had a little notice before the axe fell. I had been mailing out resumes, talking to recruiters and had several interviews lined up by the time I was let go. I found a job within a few months and moved out of my home state of Maryland to North Carolina.

I am unemployed again in a job market high on people but low on jobs. Even in my chosen field, I may not find a job easily, let alone find one in another field. It is a totally different time to be unemployed. People are going through savings, 401k funds, employment benefits; even with extensions. This is most distressing. Am I looking for work, I have to at least try just to keep my unemployment benefits coming in. There are jobs, but they require skills I do not have or more education then I have. The fast food places aren't even hiring because they have an abundance of people waiting for even their jobs.

Being unemployed is not fun, it is not pleasant. It is stressful, humbling and scary.

Health Care

The trouble with health care is that no body cares. The insurance company doesn't care because they are in the business to make money. The doctors don't care because they want to make money and avoid being sued. No one connected with the health care system really cares about the patient any more.

I remember when doctors would come to your house, if you were too sick to come to the office. I remember when you had an appointment, that was the time you saw the doctor, not when they put you in the little exam room to wait to see the doctor. I also remember when appointments weren't necessary. You showed up during office hours and waited your turn. I also remember that the visit lasted as long as it took to determine what was wrong with you, not 10 minutes. You could also discuss everything that you had a problem with, not have to allow an extra 10 minutes for each topic.

I also remember when the doctor actually gave you the medicine you needed to take. You went home, took the medicine and it worked. If not you called the doctor, at his home,if necessary, and you could get something else or he would give you another dose.

The problem with health care, is that there is no longer any care. It is a business and everyone wants to make money and avoid being sued.

Also I remember when each doctor was his own practice. Now try to find an independent doctor. Here they are either affiliated with Forsyth Medical (Novant) or Wake Forest Baptist. This maybe good for the doctors and good for the medical group they belong to but it is crap for the patients.

Unfortunately you can't legislate caring.

Never underestimate the power of a nap. Babies and children regularly are encouraged to take naps whether they want them or not. However, when we become adults, sleeping during the day has a negative slant to it. All of a sudden we are lazy, not pulling our weight if we doze off for a few minutes during the day.

Some cultures mandate naps during the day. Some even shut down during the day for an hour or so just for this purpose. Now that I have "retired" I am rediscovering the power of closing my eyes and taking a nap during the day. Naps don't have to be very long in duration; 10 or 15 minutes. Or they can last for an hour or more. The length and timing of the nap is determined by your body.

If we listen to our bodies, they will tell us if something is wrong, if we are working too hard, if we need more exercise or if we need a nap. Naps can be used as an escape mechanism to avoid dealing with something we don't want to. After the nap, you may have a new or fresh approach to the situation that you didn't see before that is better than previous solutions.

Naps are great. Animals are great nap takers. Cats,of course, have napping down to a very fine science but dogs don't do too shabbily in that department either.

Any way, don't rule out a nap for boosting your energy, clearing the mind and just plain relaxing. Naps, truly an under appreciated way to spend time.

TIME

Have you ever thought about Time? When you are little, time is either too slow or too fast. Summers go too fast and Christmas takes forever to get here and then is gone before you really enjoy it.

As you get older, time is taken for granted. Our pet phrases are "I'll take care of that later, or That's for a special time." We procrastinate enjoying life because if I have more money it will be better. If I have a new car, I can go anywhere. Tomorrow will always be there.

But then we get a gut check. All of a sudden our parents are old and feeble, time is running out for them. We can't go back and do over all the times we weren't there for them. We can't reconnect the phone calls we didn't make.

Time may be on Mick Jagger's side but it is not on ours. Each year seems to fly by faster than the one before. All of a sudden it seems, time has run out. All of the things that seemed so important, that had to be done before we could enjoy life, are not so important.

Spent time with your family, create memories that will outlast time. Live like you are dying should be the catch phrase for everyone. Because from the day we are born, we are dying. We don't know how long our string of life is. Never miss an opportunity to hug your spouse, parents, kids. Don't worry about what other people think. Be kind to one another.

Don't you just long for some good old fashioned common sense? I know I do. What happened to common sense? Did we loose it, has the pollution mutated it out of our bodies?

There was a time, that if it made sense and solved the problem, that was the way it was done. If something wasn't broken, you didn't mess with it. Now people and corporations want to think outside the box. 'What happens if.............?' 'Would it work better if we did...............? For instance, downsizing. Whose bright idea was that? Downsizing can be good, if you are cutting the deadwood, eliminating duplication of effort. But what if you just want to move jobs from one area to another, effectively putting some highly qualified individuals out of work and moving jobs to an area where there are not any highly qualified individuals currently employed.

Okay, you say, how about relocating to the new area. Well that might work for some but not for all.

But I digress. There is no common sense about downsizing. Effective April, (maybe May) 2010, I will be downsized. My job will be moved elsewhere. Why? Don't really know. They claim that they can do it faster, better and cheaper in the home office. I wish them luck, they will have do it without me.

Downsizing - Good, Bad & Ugly

You may ask what the difference is between Bad and Ugly and there is no Good in being downsized.
Well, the difference is in how it is done. Most of the downsizing is handled in the Bad to Ugly manner. The worst is showing up and the doors are locked and you have no where to turn and no one to ask questions. Next is they tell you they are going to downsize and they don't give you a timeline. That is what I am going through now. They told us last May that they would be transitioning our jobs to Rochester but didn't know exactly when. Some have bailed already, others are holding pat. I am one of those. Not from some miss guided hope that they will change their minds but because at my age, I don't know if I want to continue to work full time and from the perverse pleasure it gives me in taking every dollar I can from them.

The last time I was downsized was back in 1992. They told us they were going back to their core business strategy and our part of the business wasn't it. Those individuals who fit in other areas were offered jobs fairly quickly. If you weren't one of them, you pretty much knew you were going to be let go. When it came time for our section to be downsized, we were given a date and told what our severance package was going to be. We were even given the opportunity to buy some of our equipment. After all it wasn't going to be used anymore.

I consider that the best of the bad ways to be downsized. They were upfront, provided timelines and kept to them. It was tough but at least it was relatively painless.

This current downsizing will be drawn out, painful and will not make any new friends for the company in Rochester. It has been intimated that we might be offered jobs there but I would never feel comfortable working for a company that had already stabbed me in the back once. Who knows when they might do it again.

I will survive, God will see me through this trial as he did the last one.