Wrong and Supposed to Be

It's all wrong. And what is "it"? The system in general. Here's "the way it's supposed to be."

1. Mortgage companies should be responsible for employment. Sure, the government gains a lot when voters are employed but it's the mortgage companies that really suffer. 98% of my mortgage payment goes to interest. I'm renting from the bank. They actually own my home and let me stay here and take care of it while paying them. So, it should really be up to them to get me back in a job. If I don't work all they've got to show is an empty house that, right now, isn't worth as much as it would be if I had a job and paid the mortgage.

2. Doctors should run dating companies. My health in all dimensions (physically, mentally, emotionally) improves drastically when I'm in love. Apparently there have been some statistics to back this up with studies showing married men live longer and are healthier than their single counterparts. Of course, it could just be that some men prefer to party themselves into an early grave. All the same, love works for me. Other studies show that people who are happy can eat what they want and not gain weight. As Pamela says in the movie Avanti!, "I'm not unhappy because I'm overweight, I'm overweight because I'm unhappy." Not to mention the physiological aspects of the hypothalamus (the center of the emotions) which is tied into all the vital bodily functions.

3. Businesses owners should sweep the streets and run counseling centers. Especially the streets in my neighborhood where the cars parked in front of homes testify to the idiocy of having a policy of raising prices regularly no matter what. In this shrinking economy old notions of marketing developed during the tech and mortgage bubbles need to be swept away. People are hanging onto their jobs by the skin of their teeth. They aren't getting raises. They're lucky to have jobs. Raising prices works in an expanding economy like a carrot in front of a rabbit. In a shrinking economy that's demoralizing. Also, those looking for work need to know what sort of worker you need. They don't need to read a page about how aggressive and forward looking your company is and how exciting and wonderful and what great benefits you offer. That's 90's speak and makes the same sort of stink hot air always does. Cars parked in front of homes are people not going out because they can't afford to. People aren't spending. Raising prices means they'll spend less. And maybe businesses should be philosophers, too, and learn something about logic.

Current Fads
Listening. Healing Sounds (free from Sounds True)
Watching. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
Activity. waking in the night
Gadget. iPod Shuffle, 2nd Gen
News Source. Facebook and Twitter
Reading. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling; Political Suicide - Robert Barnard; UU World; Mensa Bulletin; Precision Auto/Allstate Insurance accident/automobile repair documents
Writing. a lot in a my head

Song of the Night: Song for a Winter's Night

update: at this moment

Current Fads
Listening. Dear Mr. Fantasy, Traffic and I Yell At Traffic, Leo Kottke; the past; the wind
Watching. Almost Famous (2000)
Activity. reclaiming
Gadget. plumber's helper
News Sources. Facebook; Twitter
Reading. Murder With Peacocks - Donna Andrews; DailyOm.com; 4-Hour Work Week - Timothy Ferris; Retirement Without Borders - Barry Golson with Thia Golson; the moon and the stars
Writing. portfolio pieces descriptions; journalling

What's wrong with socialized medicine?

Socialized medicine is not socialism. Socializing medicine seems to be the magic bullet that will fix all our health care ills. The reality is far from the dream. According to my experience, anyway. I've twice been the victim of socialized medicine. Okay. Victim is too strong a word. Let's leave that for now.

My first experience with socialized medicine was in England where I gave birth to my second child. You can't go by pregnancy and birth because they can't wait. Not like gall stones, hairlips or bone spurs which can be put off for a very long time indeed. As a pregnant person I received priority treatment. My then mother-in-law with gall stones ended up on an 18 month waiting list and was only bumped to the head of the line after 7 months because the only thing she had been able to keep down for weeks was warm water.

Some people think that socialized medicine is good because the poor will have the health care they need. In my English situation I lived in what we in America consider to be an upper middle class neighborhood. So did my mother-in-law. We weren't poor or needy by any stretch. What happens is that patients flood the system without a comparable increase in doctors. The doctors and hospitals get overloaded.

Those with discretionary income who can pay for private care can jump to the head of the line. And we're back to where we started. The poor and those who can't afford the premium prices of private doctors, including professional couples with children, are put on hold for just about everything but emergencies. They are seen by overworked doctors and end up in thinly staffed hospitals.

This is much like my experience now. I am unemployed and have qualified for free local health insurance offered by Virginia Commonwealth University's Medical College of Virginia. The program is also know as VCC (or Virginia Coordinated Care). My coverage is much like an HMO. I have a primary care physician and can't see a specialist without a referral. For emergencies I can only go to the Medical College of Virginia hospital (MCV).

The emergencies work out fine. Socialized medicine is set up for emergencies and other priority conditions. Of course, I still sit for hours with all kinds of people, although MCV has a special streamlined system (two hours instead of four) for those who are "in-and-out" patients.

On the other hand, it took six months for me to get to a Urologist and two months to get my first doctor's appointment. Originally the Urologist had scheduled my appointment for a year out, but my doctor and the patient advocate managed to pull some strings to get my wait time shortened. Getting a taste of this? Good.

As well as quantity, quality also suffers. Since doctors are in such demand you get all kinds of doctors. Urologists who cause off-the-charts pain with a q-tip. Doctors who can't get your blood pressure medication right or who refrain from referring you to a specialist for any number of reasons — one of which may be that the system requires they exhaust certain options before referring. Another may be that they are just too overworked to keep up with any patient who isn't teetering on the brink of emergency.

It would be great to provide some kind of health care either permanently or temporarily for those who can't afford to pay. I don't know what that looks like. It doesn't look like anything I've seen or heard about so far. Whatever system is created, the patient should bear some financial responsibility, no matter how small. And there needs to be enough doctors and hospitals to go around.

How will that be paid for? I don't have an answer. Right now the American system is being stretched to the limit with record unemployment and the boomer retirement bombshell. Can we afford socialized medicine? Can we afford to not have socialized medicine, keeping in mind that prevention is a lot cheaper than treatment?

I hope a workable a solution can be found. I hope everyone who is able and willing helps find a solution in a peaceful, fact-finding, respectful way. Best of luck to those working on this problem.
Current Fads
Listening. Somebody Like You, Silver Screen Soundtrack Orchestra; susurration of Air Conditioner
Watching. The Fifth Element (1997)
Activity. learning how to navigate free health care; dealing with 10 months of unemployment
Gadget. resuscitated Palm Zire 31
News Source. the news feeds in Safari
Reading. Fruits of the Poisonous Tree - Archer Mayor; First Impressions: What You Don't Know About How Others See You - Ann Demarais and Valerie White; facebook and twitter updates; Garage Band help
Writing. this blog post; morning pages

Elaine Unemployed - Episode 7

Elaine Unemployed - Episode 6

My employment compensation has longer to run that I thought it did and I have a good chance at being extended, if I need it. And I think I will.

Elaine Unemployed - Day 15 of 24

Maybe I should be a little more upbeat. What do you think?

Elaine Unemployed - Day 10 of 24

Today was a bad day. Yesterday was a good day – a very good day. How does that happen? I don't know. I woke up unsure of what day it was. Had to go through yesterday's events to figure it out.

Today was a no-dress day. I put clothes on but I didn't get dressed. I did laundry and some freelance work. I walked the dog.

Yesterday I met a friend for lunch who thankfully listened to me talk about my search and did not suggest what a million others have suggested: part-time or joe jobs.

I plan to write more and, especially, write a tips list for those of you with unemployed friends. Here's an important DON'T. DON'T tell them how to look for work. There's no one who knows better how to look for work than an unemployed person, especially one who's been unemployed for eight months. Sometimes I think others believe I just haven't got it yet. Well, I have. Believe me.

Unemployed? Need tip? Hah!!

The Viggo Front
I'm watching "Ruby Cairo" (1992 - aka "Deception") for the second time. I'm determined to keep it for all of the five days Blockbuster allows because it took seven times (and six weeks and four free rentals) of getting the wrong movie ("Deception" - 2008) from the online service before I finally got the right one. Had to go to the store to get it, too. The best scenes of Viggo's character are the ones where he has a beard. So excellent. Lots of energy and confidence. Very believable. The directing lacks a bit of zip. The movie is worth watching anyway.

Elaine Unemployed - Episode 3

After a lovely weekend, I report in on the 8th day of the final 24 days of my unemployment compensation. What happens next? Who knows!

Elaine Unemployed - Day 6 of 24

No vid today! It's Saturday, after all.

I applied for three jobs today. One of which I found by perusing the Fortune "They're Hiring" site. Each and every company I applied to had their own application system where you have to create a user name, profile, resume and cover letter. The worst ever award goes to Hilton. I'll be amazed if they get more than my job application. It's just ridiculous how many things you have to click on to create an emailable application. Many of the items are hard to see or find, need specific coding which requires using a search function that doesn't always work or with unclear instructions, or are difficult to edit. I'm going to be generous and assume that this is all in the name of cutting down applications from thousands to hundreds. Oh, and then there's my favorite: system requirements. One of application systems had the attitude that if you must be on a Mac we will support you only if you use Firefox. When I see this it tells that they want to know more about me than I'm willing to share. In other words, they are using invasive programming in their application which, among other things, will get my cookies – a function Safari doesn't allow.

But, whatever. If the current climate demands everyone bend over and wait for it to apply for a job then I guess that's what I'll have to do.

Yesterday was quite depressing when I heard the news on NPR about how lousy the job market is right now. The announcer said that in a regular economy this would be bad news but in this economy it's good. And then they went on to describe yet more layoff statistics in yet more industries. That was a real pick-me-up. ha ha

Basically, as a country, we're f--ked. I derive absolutely no consolation from knowing that as the US goes, the world goes. How can this be good for anyone anywhere?

I wish I had sold my house after my first lay off in 2007 and used the money from that and the severance package to take an around-the-world trip. Yeah, I'd be flat broke right now but at least I would have something to show for it.

Elaine Unemployed - Day 3

The second episode of the last 24 days of unemployment compensation. Got a minute?