Click Play... to Listen to What I write to


Saturday, May 31, 2008

I'm still an ass

Arrgggghhh!

Sorry I've been away for a couple of weeks.

I'm finishing my lean six sigma black belt training and with work and trying to finish the breast cancer novel - I'm smoked!

Now you know why I live at http://www.goingwacko.blogspot.com/

My BBG has had a rough couple of weeks. For those of you who don't know, a common side effect of TBIs is post TBI migraines and apparently about 30 to 40% of TBI recoveries involve a lifetime of these babies.

They are frequent
They are debilitating
and they leave you prone in a dark room for days praying for the end.

The good news is that Percocet, Valium, and some other hard to spell drugs provide minor relief. The better news is that lots of the aforementioned drugs provide moderate relief. I'll bet you can see where this is going. BBG has had a rough month with these babies and we are going through the approved list of drugs at the speed of light.

I've been pulling twelve hour days at the office and then 6 to 8 on school and novel at home which rapidly turned into a disaster area. Maybe not so much a disaster area but a minnie Mt St Helen's in my living room kind of mess and my vunderkind haven't done squat. I don't expect them to get on their hands and knees and scrub but at 11, 13, and 15, they ought to be able to throw a pizza box in the trash.

I'm a good father - I yelled at all of them

and mommy

Yeah ... I'm an ass.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

The New G.I. Bill - Dead for Now

FROM CNN

" A measure that would give veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan full four-year scholarships, dubbed a new G.I. Bill, also passed by a vote of 266-166, short of the two-thirds needed to override the promised veto by President Bush.
The added benefits would cost $52 billion over 10 years and would be paid for by a 0.5 percent surtax on individuals making more than $500,000 a year and couples making more than $1 million. Calling the new tax a "patriot premium," Democrats argued that it was time for wealthy Americans to share in the sacrifice that troops are making in Iraq. "

Two quick points:

1) I believe in the idea that wealthy Americans need to share in the pain and sacrifices of our service members and their families. Score one for the Democrats. Actually, I think all of America needs to get engaged in the sacrifices of our military. That would do one of two things: a) force Americans to stand up against the war and bring us home, or b) stand up for the military and make sure our disabled veterans get proper care and treatment from the VA and the military, make sure that our active members are recognized for their service, and provide us the tools and material to execute this war - with a nation behind us. There is no force greater than the one with the full weight of the American people behind it.

2) I am dismayed that the President doesn't care enough about us (Veterans, Service Members and their families) to make sure that we can come home from the war and begin to build new lives with an education that will help us succeed. The excuse that it is too costly pales when you look at the weekly cost of these wars.

As a former Army Officer, I am a Republican. I naturally gravitate towards a Republican Party that has generally done a better job of supporting the military over the years than the Democrats have done.

As Republicans - we have found a new way to fail our vets this week.

F&^ck!

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

A Brothers Keeper

Rocky Mountain News' Pulitzer winning prize story linked below:

I'm not sure what bothers me most: The fact that most folks don't care, the fact that many don't want to see it, or the fact that I thank god every day that it wasn't me laying my arms across a coffin.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1511792808/bclid1540979014/bctid1539384998


I guess that takes us back to the sins of the father - husband

sighh