Rants from the ATL

So here I am waiting in Atlanta for 3 hours for my connecting flight to Detroit. I just walked out of the men’s bathroom completely disgusted as usual. This is gross so I apologize in advance… Why is it that some guys going to the bathroom feel so compelled to grunt and groan while they’re going?! I mean it’s like they’re giving birth or something. I can’t think of too many things in life that are more disgusting than this and I’m sorry I had to write about it but it’s that disturbing. If I weren't at the airort writing this, it never would've made it to the blog but I guess everything happens for a reason right?

So, now that I’ve got that off my chest, I’ve got to find a way to pass the next few hours… What better way than to compose a blog entry? It’s amazing how fast time flies by when I write these things. Lately, because of slight ADD (I think due to my prognosis) I can’t seem to get into any books. So I blog… It’s what I do, good or bad, who knows…

My infusion schedule has been changed a bit but shouldn’t be a big deal. I’m due for #9 tomorrow. I need to have a serious conversation with my oncologist regarding my ever increasing neuropathy. It’s getting more and more difficult to type and getting around is getting tougher. My dilemma is I don’t want to become wheelchair bound but I want to continue to control this disease. I guess you would call this a conundrum...

Interesting watching the news at the airport with the Haiti disaster, the election in Massachusetts and Obama’s one year in the books. What else can you say about Haiti, my heart goes out to those people, what an epic tragedy… As for the election of a Republican senator in traditionally Democratic Massachusetts (who ran on a platform against the healthcare bill), it seems the people have spoken. I think the Democrats have lost the trust of the American people (for the moment) for various reasons. I also think they underestimated the grip the powerful Insurance lobby has on the Republican Party and how effective scare tactics are (regardless of the truth, see weapons of mass destruction). C’mon, the Republicans controlled all branches of government for six years and could’ve easily passed reforms that are obviously needed in the current financially unsustainable system -- a system that discriminates against and excludes millions of Americans. I happen to be one of them who is stuck with a pre-existing condition and will have no chance of acquiring affordable insurance if I’m ever able to re-enter the workforce (if things don’t change). The Republicans claim the price tag is too high. That said, never once did I hear a peep from the G.O.P. regarding the 1 trillion dollars that was being allocated to fight the war in Iraq while they passed the first tax cut in our history (while at war).

It just pisses me off that because of a colossal mistake/s made by the previous administration would lead this country down a spiraling path that we can’t fix major problems here at home like healthcare because of the debt.

This brings me to Obama’s first year in the books. While I think he’s made some mistakes (i.e. the way he went about trying to force healthcare reform rather than building consensus among the American people) I think he’s done ok with the hand he was dealt. Think back one year ago today… All you saw on television was how we were getting ready to head into the second great depression, the stock market was ready to crash. The banking system as we know it was ready to fail. Deregulation of the mortgage/financial industry brought on by the Bush administration led to the worst housing crisis in decades. People were losing their life savings. 700,000 jobs per month were being lost. We were fighting and spending billions (actually a trillion) on a war in Iraq that was making our country less safe and fighting another in Afghanistan that lacked a coherent strategy. Let’s just say the situation was grim.

That’s a lot of problems to clean up in one year from a disastrous 8 years by the Bush administration. Again, could Obama have done some things differently or better?, hindsight says probably so. I wonder what ole GW would’ve done if Clinton handed him such a mess, hmm….

Anyway, I know political talk turns a lot of people off and probably has caused a lot of people reading this to click away…

However, I feel it’s important to talk about. In an ideal situation, I’m hoping that people can put aside political differences and come together to put this country back on track. I think it’s going to take cooperation by both political parties and putting self interests aside for the betterment of the country. Ha! Like that will ever happen… Cynicism aside, if Obama wants to get elected to another term, he better learn how to mitigate those who want nothing but to see him fail. He also needs to figure out in the next three years how to build consensus and get the majority of Americans behind him again.

Again, sorry for the political rant and the disgusting bathroom reference! I guess I don't have a lot of good things to say today. Tomorrow I get to focus on much lighter stuff like whether or not I should stay on a drug that is slowly paralyzing my body, ha! I think Friday will be a good day...

As they say here in the D, it’s all good in the mother f’n hood…

Peace