A Good Day was Had by All – Not!

<Lisa here. Even though he asked me to work my magic, there’s no filter needed here on this most excellent post by my brother without a tumor (aka “Captain Underpants”). Although I will admit to adding the images that now accompany all those words of his.>

So today is Wednesday and I’m trying to write my own little diary of experience after brain surgery. I’m definitely feeling better and less disoriented. I’m thanking Acer and Best Buy for this big screen ‘puter in the kitchen, much less eye-strain than the iPad or iPhone, which I can only look at a few seconds/minutes at a time. I want to watch another movie, but the 24-hour rental periods in iTunes are kinda tough to work around with me having to take lots of breaks.

I didn’t take an afternoon nap yesterday in the hopes of sleeping more through the night. I drank some of Pam’s home-made juice, and am restarting some supplements. I did break down and took a pain med just before bedtime, along with my icy underwear on my head (thanks Lisa – and Nicole!). So good news, I slept fairly well till about 4am, when I couldn’t anymore and just looked around on the iPad a bit at a time (frequent sensory breaks).

We got CJ off to school together, then Nicole went back to bed – at my insistence. Her back is hurting bad, maybe it’s the downstairs mattress? So she’s sleeping in upstairs in our own bed, which I hope to return to asap. Gotta climb stairs though. Have Larry for PT today at 11, and I think some visitors. But a good day is expected, I am improving, just this pesky headache and some balance issues to deal with.

Am having trouble with some names, forgot a few people’s and even Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz till Nicole mentioned it. But once it’s told to me, I remember it from now on. My memory is so much clearer now, thanks BFD Edy! Except for a few missing neurons that connect names and faces, everything is very clear now. Like I said, I’m having a good day!

But not everyone is having a good day.

I read some of the paper this morning, and have tried to catch up on news. So I feel compelled to speak, I guess this little blog is a good enough place. After brain surgery, I’m told that things will be very clear for at least awhile – I’m hoping that lasts, along with my super-hearing and taste for everything! So without further ado, here are some of my thoughts with this new-found clarity – before everything was fuzzy, my memory was bad, and I was less sure about stuff like politics and social issues. No more!

Govt. shutdown: Bad for government workers, worse for everybody in the food chain that supports the government all over the nation, and they’ll get no relief. Goes down to restaurant workers/owners as well as the govt. contractors, many of whom will go out of business if this keeps up much longer. Every day that goes by makes it harder for Americans all over our nation to deal with the financial issues – and many were already not doing so good. I sincerely hope this fact (ok, opinion but it feels like a fact) moves Congressman Boehner to allow a vote ‘without strings’ to reopen the government. I’m sure it’ll pass, you just need to allow a vote. Today.

Debt Ceiling: I truly believe that Obama is right about defaulting on our debts being catastrophic – not just for the USA but for the whole world – economy, foreign government and businesses big and small as well as here at home. We simply can’t do this, and need to stop playing games (despite what Congressman Boehner says, he is doing just that) with this critical issue. Yes we need to be better at reducing our spending, but now is not the time to play hostage-taking. It’s a cruel tactic and not becoming of true patriotic Americans serving in our legislative branch.

Senator Cruz and the Tea Party cohorts (about 46 in the House, 5 in the Senate): You are off the deep end of the rainbow, and I have no pity for you – you have really screwed the pooch here. Thanks to obvious gerrymandering, your re-elections are probably safe, but I think you should do the right thing, fall on your swords and quit public service. You have, by your actions, ended any sympathy to any of your (just and unjust) causes by most of America regardless of individual political leanings. For the good of the USA and the entire world, step down and find a job somewhere else. I’m sure you’ll do fine and you’ll still get your pensions. You’ll miss the political power that I’m sure drives you, but please find another way to get happy.

The rest of the GOP: Get your act together folks. The Affordable Care Act (I won’t call it Obamacare ever again and you need to dump that moniker today) may be icky, but it isn’t the first icky law to be enacted. Move past that and start working on fixing the parts of it that you can so it’s not as icky, and get it to do what it’s supposed to do – make affordable health care available to all Americans. And please force Congressman Boehner to call a vote to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling today – then you can start working with the Democrats and President on dealing with issues. I feel very strongly about this, not just because I’m sort of a blue-dog Democrat, but because I truly believe that this is in the best interests of our country. Once we get past this, get to the negotiating table as fast as possible, and be reasonable – listen more than you talk and try (Yoda says “No Try, Do!”) to find common ground to solve our country’s problems.

Congressman Boehner: Your days are numbered. I’ve vacillated from sympathy for your ‘rock and a hard place’ position – but you put yourself there – to outright disgust at your unwillingness to take action for the good of the country at your personal expense (e.g., power as Speaker). Right now/today you need to put a clean CR and debt ceiling raise to a vote, I’m sure it’ll pass. Don’t let any more time go by as it’s really hurting nearly everyone in the country now. I know you’ll lose your Speaker job and all the supposed power that entails, but you need to be a patriotic American and do this for your country. Don’t worry, I don’t think you’ll lose your Ohio seat and certainly not your pension. Who knows, maybe you’ll even come out sweeter next year, I hope Ohioans will remember at your re-election what you did for the country today – if you do it. Just fall on your sword and stop posturing. It’s time.

President Obama: Same as above for the Democrats. I personally admire you and your ideals, but you need to listen to the opposition, don’t just lecture them. Be a listener more than a talker – I respect you, but have to say your performance record is a little spotty. Please work on that in the years you have left before becoming a past-President. I do agree that you as a leader need to stand your ground on the Affordable Care Act and stopping the GOP-led Congress from making brinkmanship the order of the day – way to show true leadership! I do worry about all Americans and the impact this impasse is having on us all, I hope everyone will do the right thing.

Democrats in Congress/Senate: Get to the negotiating table as quick as you can once the government is re-opened and the debt ceiling raised. Be reasonable and listen more than you talk. Try to find common ground. Same as the GOP. Stop posturing and start trying to understand other points of view – don’t just stand on party lines but shake hands across and get comfortable with (I fervently hope) a re-imagined ‘United’ States.

Gun Control & the NRA: Allow what most of the country wants, universal background checks. You can keep your line in the sand, but get some reason in your heads – guns do kill people, in the hands of people. Focus on the people and put some of your PAC money towards mental health research – heck, all of it. Please!

Wealth Imbalance: My feeling is that most of the divisiveness in this country (perhaps the world) is due to the concentration of wealth to a teensy-tiny group of super-rich. You folks need to get way more philanthropic and give away everything you don’t really need. Give it to the poor, downtrodden, and mentally ill – and to the social institutions that support them. Stop buying mansions all over the world, super-yachts and a car for every day in the week – that’s in poor taste. For companies that compensate their CEOs and top echelon of leadership, reward them with something other than money – then pay your rank-and-file employees enough so they’re not scratching for existence. Make the world a better place first for your employees, second for your customers & clients. Give every employee, even your part-timers a decent shot at the American Dream, which has gotten lost in time and space.

Education: Rethink how we educate our nation’s youth, teach them what they need to know to get by in the 21st century, not the 20th or 19th. Pay teachers what they need for a decent living in the neighborhoods where they teach, plus just like the note above to companies. Especially K-12 – so many have to have 2nd jobs and also  spend a dozen hours each week (unpaid) working on classroom stuff to make a difference in our children’s lives.

Americans: Get along, go ahead and have spirited discussions about the taboo subjects of religion and politics. Don’t just avoid those conversations – it makes things worse. But be nice and respectful of other people’s opinions, and use care with the words that come out of your mouths – think first, then talk. And listen more than you say. If you’ve spent your entire life in one sub-culture, get a book and read about other cultures to expand your awareness and understanding of what it’s like for people different from you. Try to expand your understanding of something other than what you’re used to. Be tolerant of people and their values who/which are different than you, and try to understand other people’s point of view. Don’t just dismiss them as ‘different’ and not like you – so not worthy of any consideration, sympathy, or empathy. I’m giving this a big try myself, and will never look at other points of view quite the same way. Maybe brain surgery was a good thing!

Ok, I could go on and on, but I need to take a sensory break and get back to healing. Hopefully my sistah Lisa will clean this up for me and fix my oopsies.

• ← We’re not in Kansas Anymore
• A Hairy Post, er, Pate →