Grateful Dead

As a non-violent activist I am watching in awe as first a self-immolation in Tunisia by a college student deposed a dictator and now a dozen more self-immolation's are encouraging mass uprisings in several countries. Fascists are slaughtering their own people in the street during demonstrations as we speak. I hope this starts a movement of freedom heard round the world . Muslims have always ruled with iron fists. Iran is the big one, but unlikely to go down. I think the sewers would coagulate with the blood of innocents there before the fucking imams give up. The power of non-violent civil disobedience is immense. Of course, what comes next is an open question. Better, worse? Who knows but I applaud their sacrifice and bravery. It is a lesson for us all. As the bankers and the medical companies and other assorted industries with vested interests continue to drain the wealth from our country, leading us to being the biggest debtor nation on the earth, with us waiting for the ax to fall, maybe their will be some amongts us brave enough to pull us back from tragedy with brave actions. What is freedom, what is a life well-lived and who will look honestly in the mirror and say thatt he USA is the pinnacle of civilization? These heroes fighting dictators in the Middle East are my alpha dogs for the year 2011. If this be sedition so be it. We're not even free enough to commit self-immolation in this country. Cameras everywhere, e-mails read, phones tapped, psychic profiles - plenty of numbness and narcissistic escape for those with money. Who among us would start such a movement in this country? Even if it would be mercilessly put down as in Iran (as it surely would). I am humbled today by news of braver people.

But it was a pretty small waiting room...and I didn't get quite desperate enough to ask.

a doctor's office with no restroom? how barbaric! :-)********************************** I am not young enough to know everything. Oscar Wilde

Actually, by the end of it, I was desperate for another kind of break...it was a long afternoon without a restroom in sight.

Did you take a ....ahem....break?.............heeheee!!!

Wait, did we GET a Patient's Bill of Rights? I'm talkin' the Time is Money Amendment Goes something like this: say, for example, that you have to drive your wife to an appointment (a "consultation") with an oral surgeon. You leave work at 1:45 pm (3 hr 15 minutes early), drive 40 minutes home, then 20 minutes to the place. Arrive about 15 minutes early because you KNOW there's going to be a bunch of paperwork to fill out. 3 pm comes and goes, then 3:15, 3:30, 3:45, 4:00, 4:15...then at 4:20 she gets called from the waiting room to the inner sanctum (session lasts over an hour, costs over $300, and we'll be looking at a second mortgage to cover the cost of the work that needs to be done -- no Europe 72 box for me!). I spent the entire time, until the paying part, cooling my heels in the waiting room, watching it slowly empty out until I was the only one left. The receptionist must have been wondering who I was and why I was loitering in her space. This is the medical industry's equivalent of an airline overbooking a flight: selling you a time slot that they don't actually have available. So here's the Amendment: based on the wait, it's obvious that my time, my wife's time, is worth nothing to the dentist. Soooo...I'll give you a 15 -minute grace period against the appointment time. But given that doctors and dentists will charge you if you don't show up for an appointment, I want a 5% rebate against the retail cost of the visit for every 15 minutes spent waiting after the grace period. This is a direct payment to the patient, NOT a discount for the insurance company. My time, after all, is NOT worth nothing. This plan should have a positive effect by making the system more efficient, or by putting money back in my pocket, or by reducing the practice's patient load thus creating a demand for additional healthcare workers...all of which should be job- creating and not, as the GOP so foxily put it, "job killing." (Talk about trying to enact half-truths and deception into legislation..."job killing" is part of the name of a Bill? Sheeesh...). Time is Money...

will be on fb from aug 1st!!!!!!!

fired cream or ice cream I think. You can build you own that fires spray can foam http://homepage.ntlworld.com/g0xan/bugsy/

what that stuff is...frosting? pudding? cream cheese?....

And I don't want to make it bigger than it really is. There is no hostility or anything like that (maybe mild piling-on lol). But there is a strong click in this thread (and some of the others - like the Road Trips threads for example) and if you are not apart of it then your opinions are scoffed at in a subtle way and in some cases not so subtle no matter what your stance and especially if it is against the majority's opinion. It's just the vibe I get here. That's totally fine if you don't agree with me but it's there. I am not going to tattle on any one that's ridiculous but I will just avoid this thread on dead.net. Most of the issues discussed here don't have a right or wrong answer and because of that, it usually leads to someone being pissed off or feelings hurt. I am sure I am making way too big a deal out of it but still, it's not worth it. Again, no biggie, no worries, go on with you discussions. I apologize for any drama. Take care. "It's got no signs or dividing line and very few rules to guide"