Happy of the day: Little Old Woman

Though retired now, early due to a disability, I was a nurse for over 20 years. I've worked in a number of specialties but the one I worked in the most was home health, not to be confused with private duty nursing. Home health is strictly a hospital on wheels. Anyway, that doesn't really matter. I also worked with Alzheimer patients, a seriously high number of them, I did Obstetrics and GYN, I worked for a ENT and also a plastic surgeon. Though sad that I cannot work as a nurse any longer, I did have a well rounded career.

All that said, the one thing I enjoyed more than anything was home health. As a working mother, it was much more flexible than any other nursing job. I could stop at the bank, take my child to the doctor, or whatever and still see my patients later on. As convenient as that is, it is not the reason I loved home health. I loved home health for the conversations I had with the patients.

Most home health patients are on Medicare, so their ages are over whatever the age limit is for Medicare. Most too were usually being seen because they were discharged from the hospital such as follow up appointments. Again, that's most of them, not all.

In any case early in my career, WWII vets were rampant. Sadly, towards the end of my career there were few left. I loved listening to the stories that my patients would share with me. Their stories of the war, the farm, the depression and so on. I could sit there all day listening to any of them. Some bragged of the war and some were more reserved.

Anyway great stories have been out there but now memories are becoming lost, as that generation, sadly, passes into their next life.
Then, on a day like today, you read something like this. This woman, I'm sure, has stories to tell as well. I hope that her son documents her memories. He must move fast because they will be lost in the blink of an eye.

God bless her.

Rant of the Day: Double Standards

 I read articles like these all the time. Sometimes I say things aloud and other times I just read them in a suspension of disbelief and move on. Today though, I got really freaking angry when I read this article.

Now here's the thing. First off, I wouldn't call what he did as "faking his death". Well okay, maybe a little bit but not in a legal sense of the term. It doesn't appear, or at least they have not yet said, that he tried to collect life insurance or anything of that nature. Nothing, illegal. So what that he emailed her a dirty lie? That happens all the time on the internet and besides, give me one failing relationship that did not include a dirty lie!

Was what he did wrong? Yes. Is it all that bad? Faking the death? No, stupid maybe, but not bad.. Having the affair? Well apparently not since Clinton did it and didn't lose his job.

Now here is the double standard part; actually it's a two-parter:

1. Why is it that the freaking president of the United States (Clinton) can cheat on his wife but a navy captain cannot? The US President is the Commander in Chief of all the military. Shouldn't the president be held to the same standards?
2. How is it that her career is more important than his? She ruined his career, she should have hers ruined. She was no innocent party here and her not wanting the press to know about her own slimy self only proves that she knows she is a whore.

Another thing that pisses me off is that foxnews no longer allows comments because I'd be all over that.

For those who say he did wrong, then I surely hope they didn't vote for Clinton because that would make them a hypocrite.

/rant

Antibacterially and Organically Stupid

Did you know that organic eaters are meaner and more judgmental?  No, really. A study has proven that and are any of us surprised? Just to read up on the subject, here's a video about it and here's an article. Not only that, but those who eat organic food and also use antibacterial hand gel all the time are not... well... smart.

Let me just say that I am a nurse. For this reason I obviously do not completely object to the use of antibacterial hand gels. They do serve a purpose and they are helpful in certain situations. However these gels are being abused and users doing this to themselves are doing their bodies a great harm. Your body is designed to rid itself of certain germs and being exposed to small amounts of germs increases your body's resistance to illnesses. Patients who overuse antibacterial gels will eventually get sick more often than those who don't.

Here is the irony: most people who are germaphobic, also eat organic food and in reverse, organic food eaters also tend to become germaphobic. I don't mean to laugh, but truly this is a riot in and of itself. It's actually absurd.