When my dad was admitted to the hospital on Friday afternoon after several hours in the ER, the nursing staff interviewed me about his medical history and such. I made it clear that my primary concerns were:
- Figure out the level of care he needs and is likely to need in the near future (activities of daily living), and
- Explore home and institutional settings.
I was assured that the doctors and the physical therapy team would evaluate him and a social worker would come in to talk to me about care.
What I got was a sales pitch from the…
Update: Nurses are wildly overworked. Each and every time a nurse comes in they have to take multiple calls through a voice pager system. How can they concentrate on what they’re doing when they’re taking multiple calls regarding multiple patients every minute? How can they meet the reasonable needs of incapacitated patients when they’re in too small numbers to even scratch the surface?
I hope this writing finds you healthy because if you’re not, you’re probably already experiencing what I’m writing about.
Lets go back a decade before I talk about now.
Late Diagnosis No Prognosis
My mom was seriously…
I saw a tweet from a woman in Texas who wanted to get out of there but was afraid to drive on the snow and ice. I get that because it happens a lot in Chicago, and no, I never got used to it. My message back to her was “If I can do it, so can you.”
I have no credentials for teaching driver’s ed other than my own experience, my fear that helps me understand their fear, and a day at Northwestern Driving School to beat a speeding ticket 15 years ago, a great experience really. The teacher…
I graduated high school in 1977 and it was time to think about careers. I thought my choices were limited. I had no special talents. Not musical: I was challenged down to third chair flute ever year in band. Not literary: My best friend wrote her science paper in iambic pentameter. I was happy to just write the paper. Not artistic or athletic: I was one of those kids whose grade point average was brought down by art and gym classes. Not good at public speaking: I avoided raising my hand in class. Not good at languages: In Junior High…
If you want to be in the “room where it happens,” don’t bother getting yourself elected as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. I mention this now because over 700 of the current delegates have signed a petition to reject the platform that now rejects Medicare for all. In 2004, I don’t remember anyone asking me about the platform so while I commend their effort, I doubt a petition to a virtual convention will move a party determined to stick with the corporate agenda. Now, all the DNC has to do is keep the elected delegates out of the…
Trust is the union of intelligence and integrity.~~Yogi Tea Bag Tab, Lemon Ginger
I have a short story. I’m not in first hand knowledge of all the information about how this actually went down. My knowledge of this matter is from news reports and Twitter, but I have had several years of experience with many of the players. This is a true story but I didn’t eye witness it in person so you can categorize this as historical fiction if you wish.
A guy I know got himself into hot water with a local politician and his political group. To…
I’m not a Black person so I cannot speak to the Black experience in the United States. However, I can speak a little about my own experience as a Jewish-American.
I’m not religious, so I don’t have a lot of experience about what goes on in the religious communities. However, being not religious but Jewish by ancestry, and having an English last name, I can relate what I’ve seen and experienced as an outsider on the inside.
When I was young in the ‘60s and ’70s, I didn’t think about race or religion much. I wasn’t confronted with much, our…
I’d have my basket in front of me if I could actually get a basket but here goes.
My ingredients are as follows:
2 pounds of stew mean (that I didn’t order but thank god I received in my delivery, and by god I mean Jewel Food Stores.)
Eight hot dog buns
16 oz honey
One 15 oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes
Dried garlic flakes
Two carrots
Canned fruit cocktail
What dinner am I going to make out of that? I’m not a Food Network Iron chef so have no idea but I imagine things could be worse. …
It starts at the local level.
It’s the incumbent local official who comes into the polling place with his name identification swag in full view, shaking hands, and it’s the election judge from his party who smiles and does nothing about it. All illegal electioneering. That former incumbent is now considered a highly respected elder statesman of his district. The judge is a pillar of her community.
It’s the high school senior’s mom working as an election judge who kicks all her 18-year old kid’s friends out of the polling place, denying them their rightful vote, when she knows exactly…
Ellen Beth Gill
Lawyer, Teacher, Mediator. Worked on many political campaigns and learned nothing will help until we enforce our laws, particularly laws against corruption.
