Maggy Floeter says…

Our almost 17 year old cat, Rex, became very ill this week, and we almost lost him.

I can hear you now saying, “Jebus, woman…he’s 17 years old. Of *course* he is experiencing health problems. He’s ancient!” But the fact is, he’s been relatively healthy his entire life, with only a few bouts of seriously bad constipation in his old age and a case of very well controlled kidney disease. (It sounds worse than it is; his numbers are always in the normal range or just outside the normal range.)

But this week, Rex was sick on an entirely different level. Though we took him to the vet right away and began treatment immediately, he continued to go downhill, had yet another vet visit, and then Friday, I found him lying in a pool of water in my shower, lethargic and unmoved by his soaked, cold body. Michael rushed him to the Veteranary ER to find that his temperature was five degrees below normal and his kidney numbers were much worse than usual. We were scared.

They hooked him up to IVs to rehydrate him and warmed him up, and as of yesterday morning, his temperature was back to normal. We visited him in the afternoon, and he ate two teaspoons of food, which was a lot considering he hadn’t eaten in five days. They’ve been giving him excellent care, and we go back today to find out if we can take him home yet.

So, while I’m not for changes to the human health care system, I can tell you that I’m very happy with the pet health care system. They don’t need to change a thing except possibly lowering the fees just a little. Still, it’s worth it to have a beloved member of the family with us for a while longer, feeling like his old self again and playing with his tail like a kitten.

Stumble It!

You are under a misguided impression that, as a patriotic American citizen, I would like to help correct.

You were elected to your offices by a ballot of the people – American citizens one and all who have grown up loving this country and believing in a representative government of the people and by the people.  We elected you based on your reported platforms and, in doing so, gave you the heady responsibility of representing our wants and needs.

Somehow you have gotten the idea that your constituents are stupid people who don’t know enough to decide important issues for ourselves, so you have the idea that what we think we want doesn’t matter when it comes to the decisions you make, because…well…you’re smarter than us. The truth is, the greater majority of us are as smart and as savvy as you are. We pay attention to the news, the issues and the things that affect us and our families. We care about our communities, our rights and our country. Admittedly, there are some who are ignorant and uninformed, but don’t fool yourselves into believing they are in the majority. That couldn’t be farther from the truth.

As a result of your misguided thinking, you have decided to push through some legislation that you know doesn’t represent our wishes.

You’ve pushed through two stimulus bills that have destroyed our economy, when the better solution would have been to let the chips fall where they may. Stimulus packages never revitalize a sagging economy. The only thing that can do that is the confidence of the American people. Do you really think the American people can have confidence in an economy being propped up by huge infusions of government money? Be logical! Of course they can’t; if anything, that frightens us more!  The only thing that will return our economy to a steady state and make it healthy (and grow) again is when the country’s citizenry has trust and faith that things are improving.  Only then could we see real improvement, and your stimulus packages have made that impossible.

You’ve pushed through an energy/climate bill that was based on inaccurate calculations, telling us that it will only increase our home fuel bills by around $150 a year by 2020. And then, in a huge “oops moment,” you quietly informed us that you’d made a small math mistake, and the real cost to each American household will be more to the tune of $300 to $400 A MONTH. Do you really think that this is something the average American household can sustain?  If so, you’re living in the dream world of the privileged few.  Most of us will not be able to afford such an increase in our fuel bills. Such increases will bankrupt us and put us on the streets.  Do you care? It seems not, since all you seem to be about is making the changes you want while you have an overwhelming majority that can’t be overridden. So much for checks and balances.

Now, you are trying to put through a Health bill that virtually no one wants.  You are holding so many press conferences and town meetings that many of us are wondering who is actually governing our country.  You claim that the opposition you have met during these meetings is false opposition – that those who vehemently voice their concerns are paid to do so, and the American people actually want this bill. Well, I’m here to tell you that we do NOT want this bill. On top of that, we are sick to death of being lied to by our President and the senators and congressmen and women who we elected to represent us.  You are aware, aren’t you, that we can READ?  When you tell us that we can keep our own work-provided or private insurance, we can easily find the section of the bill that states we won’t be able to do that.  When you tell us that we can keep our family physicians – some of whom have been our doctors for decades – we can see in the bill that this is not the case. When you tell us this bill will improve our health care, even though it’s based on the socialized medicine we see in other countries like Canada, we know that it will actually degrade our healthcare.  We know that what health care we are allowed to receive will be based on our age, our weight, or our “worthiness” to be treated. 

In addition, you are trying to take away our freedom of speech with the “fairness doctrine,” which will kill conservative talk radio. The liberal lawyers you’ve put in the Justice Department have even stooped to threatening the state of Oklahoma for trying to present a bill that would make English the official language of the state!  And (as a side note) Nancy Polosi herself has lied to the American people, claiming she never knew of “water boarding” when it’s part of the public record that she did.

You have pretended to be so concerned about our economy, vilifying the executives of the big three car companies for flying in separate private jets to meet with you, and yet now, you have voted for two new luxury jets to fly YOU around, when you have a perfectly good fleet of planes already.  How about flying coach or driving? Heck, even flying first class would save millions of dollars over what you have chosen to do.

I could go on, but I believe I have gotten my message across to you. If not, let me make it even simpler.

You are NOT fooling us.

And while we’re at it, shame on us for wanting change so badly that we voted you in. We wrongly believed that you had integrity and honor and trusted that you would stand by your sworn pledge to represent us as provided for in the U.S. Constitution.  We did not expect that, given an overwhelming majority, you would turn into wolves whose only desire was to rip and shred at the very platform on which our great country was built. We did not understand that, without the proper checks and balances, you would push through partisan legislation that we, the people you are supposed to represent, do not want. We didn’t get that you would fundamentally change the face of our government, our economy and our lives.

But know this…

If we are still a representative democracy when your terms are up, you will be voted out of office. We will take back our country just as our forefathers did before us, and our newly elected representatives will return our rights and freedoms to us and restore our great nation to its former glory.

Count on it.   

Copyright August 6, 2009 by Margaret Floeter

Stumble It!

Well, I was beginning to think I’d never be able to say this again, but…

I got a job!

Six months to the day after I was laid off as part of a mass lay off at the last company at which I worked, I started work at my new job, and I couldn’t be more excited.  I really like the people I’m working with, I’m thoroughly impressed with my boss, and the work is exciting, fast paced, challenging and compelling. How did I get so lucky?

As someone who has worked steadily since I was 14 years old — often at multiple jobs — being out of work for six months was frightening. Even scarier was the fact that there just didn’t seem to be any jobs in my area of expertise available. I got close a couple of times — once, I was second out of over 2,000 applicants — but even those positions paid over $15k less than what I had become accustomed to making. It was completely demoralizing and depressing, but I kept pressing on, and from this experience, I learned that the job search is easily as hard work as any position I’ve ever held. A year and a half ago when the company I was working at was bought out, and my position was moved over 1,000 miles away, I had three great offers within two weeks of beginning my job search. This time, during six months of constant applications, resumes and cover letters, I had zero offers.

Of course, I don’t have to tell any of you that it was the economy. Ten percent of you are out there looking for jobs right now, and I’d venture to guess than 80% of you are biting your nails, afraid that a pink slip will come with your next pay stub, while the remaining 10% are either fortunate enough to be secure in your position or oblivious to the sword of damacles that is hanging over your head.

As for myself, all I know is that I have never appreciated having a job more, and I will do whatever I can to excel at it, so I can keep it.  I know that I am one of the lucky few who got laid off in this economic downturn to have gotten a job, and I’m even luckier to have gotten a good one.

Stumble It!

Just as we baby-boomers were getting used to life without such icons as Ed McMahon, Farrah Faucett and Michael Jackson, news came Saturday, July 18, 2009, of the passing of 92 year old Walter Cronkite, the greatest newsman to have ever lived.

Not many people know that Walter also called Oklahoma football for WKY radio in 1937.

Cronkite, just 21 when he worked for the Oklahoma City radio station, later recounted that his early work on the broadcasts lacked solid preparation and knowledge. I wish there were some recordings of those old games, so we could hear it for ourselves, because he obviously fixed those problems throughout his career.

For those of us who grew up watching Walter Cronkite, a part of our childhood has now passed with him. He was the one who told us when JFK was assasinated. He was the one who thrilled with us when we first landed on the moon. He was the one who told us about countless soldiers who died in Vietnam. And he was the one who taught us history, through his wonderful “You Were There” programs.

Even though our political leanings differed, I always had great respect for Cronkite as a journalist. He was always thorough and told the news without bias, something not seen by most anchors today. And speaking of anchors — Walter Cronkite was the first newsman to ever be called an anchorman. As a matter of fact, he came so identified in that role that eventually his own name became the term for the job in other languages (Swedish anchors are known as Kronkiters; in Holland, they are Cronkiters).

Because of his non-biased presentation of the news, Cronkite was voted the most trusted man in America, a title he richly deserved. I’ve missed his newscasts since he retired, but I miss him more today. There will never be another like him.
 

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Upon learning of the death of Michael Jackson, John Mayer said, “A major strand of cultural DNA has left us.”  I don’t think anyone could have put it better.

It’s hard for me to wrap myself around the fact that Michael Jackson is gone. A truly iconic person such as he is such a part of us as a people that, to think of a world without him, leaves me feeling sad and befuddled. Just as you can’t pull a strand of DNA from a person, you can’t pull Michael Jackson from our culture. He has permeated it, molded it, and surprised it since he was 10 years old.

His voice, as a child, was pure and beautiful. His rock, pop and disco music set feet dancing, and balads like “I’ll be There” and “Ben” were beloved by all — race, age, sexual preference be damned; no one could resist that amazing voice. 

And even when you think it can’t get better, his body moved in ways that equaled or bettered the greatest dancers.  It’s said that when he was in his late teens and 20s, he had dinners with Fred Astaire and other great giants of the dancing world. I can only imagine the shared synergy at these events, because what emerged were moves never imagined. No one could pop his body like Michael Jackson. The moonwalk had been done before, but Michael reinvented the move. Other dancers accompanying him paled in comparison.

He was exciting, beloved and revered across the world.

Paul McCartney called Michael Jackson “a massively talented boy-man with a gentle soul,” and that’s how I hope he’s remembered. In so many ways, Michael was a true case of arrested development. Because he’d never had a childhood of his own, he yearned for one so badly that he could only identify with children or with others who had been child stars.

He was an innocent in so many ways, and even when his actions came into question, I think his intent was that of a child yearning for some connection.  Even his apparent abuse of prescription drugs was, most likely, a means used to quell his emotional, as well as physical, pain.

Whatever the case, the world would not be the same without Michael Jackson in it. His music will endure, we can watch videos of him dancing, but we’ll never know what more he could have delighted us with.

Stumble It!

Iconic.

This week, the the United States and the world has lost some iconic people.

First, Ed McMahon who died at the age of 86. Ed was perhaps the most perfect straight man ever to grace the late night stage. As Johnny Carson’s partner for over 30 years, he set up and played off of Johnny’s jokes, keeping us laughing until we cried. Johnny and Ed were a late night institution for most Americans, and I — like most people in this country — never missed an episode. As the years passed, I’d forgotten just how funny they were together, but when I heard of Ed’s death, I pulled out my “Best of Carson” DVD and watched the whole thing. Man, those guys were great together. Ed’s quiet straight lines and the looks they engendered from Johnny were classic.

Yesterday, Farrah Fawcett passed away at the age of 62 after three years fighting anal cancer. She, too, was an iconic personality. In the 70s and 80s, her beauty was unrivaled. Her picture was everywhere — even my gay friend, Rob, had her poster on his wall. Her beautiful smile was unrivaled, her gorgeous hair was copied by millions of women around the world, and her unbridled sexuality was a turn on for boys and men and a roadmap for women who tried — most of the time with little success — to be just a little bit like her. Beautiful even while fighting cancer at 62, she spent her last months sending a message to the world: Don’t give up, no matter what obstacles come your way.

And then we come, sadly, shockingly, to Michael Jackson. To say Michael was iconic is an understatement. As a child, some of my greatest memories surround Michael and Donnie Osmond. The three of us were roughly the same age, so I was especially interested in the two boys. Before they were 9 years old, Michael and the Jackson Five and Donne and the Osmond Brothers were rising stars, rivals of sorts and obviously full of talent. It was Michael, though, who grew into the icon he became. With his every move, he outdid himself. Every song he wrote was better than the last. Every dance move he invented was 10 tiers above the one before. Every video he made outdid the others. He was a true star, beloved and awed by billions across the world.

Sadly, his upbringing and fame did much to scar him. It turned him into a recluse, robbed him of his childhood and his freedom and shaped him into an eccentric person who only identified with children and other child stars. Thankfully, the world today is forgetting his quirks and eccentricities and remembering him for the amazing, astounding talent that he had. I still can’t believe he’s gone.

Three great icons. I’m so glad we got to experience the joy they brought to the world. I’m so sad to see them go. I give them my applause and thanks one last time.

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