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My Blog. Generally Intended for Reading-Not Eating!. |
Rose-Tinted Ramblings ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** A Little of What You Might Expect & A Lot of Everything Else that You Don't!. My writing style for my blog is invariably 'snarkastic'. This is because I am a nice, unassuming and quietly-spoken person IRL-and this blog is where my innermost moments and torments happen. Trust me, I am no exception to that delightful rule. Greetings! Welcome to my THIRD blog here on WDC. A re-incarnation of my earlier version of my Blog, here "Insanties and Sensibilities" this v.03 should prove to be equally...challenging and hopefully, entertaining. That said, life often weaves through our writing in mysterious ways, and this Blog will probably prove to be no exception to that. We are very likely all quite different, yet the same, us writers and our collective little whims, fascinations and insecurities. |
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April 14, 2008. This may be the last entry in my blog for a while. My upgraded membership expires tomorrow. Usually no big deal. Except that, pennies that I spend now, come out of our Trip to New Zealand Jar, which needs as many pennies as possible at the moment. So, goodbye Blogville. See you all on the Yellow Brick Road, or is that reserved for Yellow Cases, too?. {e:balloon1) Edit: Do not worry about me. I'll return when I'm sufficiently motivated to write here again. Being a black case for as long as I have doesn't bother me, either. All good things come to those who wait, according to those who have it on good authority. In the meantime, I'm wondering if I'll need to bury my mother next to my late father. If she's holding on, on our account, we'd better be skippy about this trip back home. Crematoriums creep me out. Thoughts, too, for the six schoolchildren and their teacher who lost their lives on a river in the North Island of New Zealand, overnight. Time to take care of our own. |
April 13, 2008. Whether the Weather be: Cloudy 51. Events of Note: Calm after the storm-time to dwell on domestic dilemmas In the Nudes: Dalai Lama will resign if Tibetan violence escalates (Reuters) ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
April 12, 2008. Whether the Weather: 58 (F) Sunny. (Yesterday was 75 (F) and Sunny) Events of Note: Still coughing due to asthma and allergies In the Nudes: Polygamist sect told it's children that the outside world is hostile (Texas) A.P. Source ![]() However...yesterday's forwarded mail, really got my goat greening. It had to do with the public health safety of wiping the tops of soda cans before you slurp your soda, because of possible contamination by rats pee. A woman in Texas contracted a rare form of something starting with 'l' and died from it, after drinking from a contaminated soda can top. Tragic. Now, granted, whoever started this hyperbolic, cyber panic attack was probably well-intentioned, if not ill-informed. I do get seriously pipped when people take such public health cases out of context, and quote one research study as if it were the absolute authority and last word on the subject. Get a grip on yourselves!. If I did that, or even participated in that, I'd be being an irresponsible public health professional, and I'd end up with absolutely zero credibility. We just don't do that!. Promoting panic is not conducive to helping anything or anyone. Period. Moreover, the email never mentioned where this information about the rat pee scare originally came from. Well, you can guess where that one got filed!. Part of this, I blame on the news media-who are some of the biggest culprits of similar tactics. A scientific research study on some "buzz" or "hot topic" comes out, and the the media are scrambling frantically, often making sweeping generalizations, when sometimes, the scientific generalizability is considerably much more narrow, and the actual results are not really able to be hyped (nor should they be) when they are taken in a wider context. My other pet media peeve is DTCA-Direct to Consumer Advertising by Drug Companies-but, that's a whole other rant. ![]() |
April 10, 2008. Whether the Weather be: 36 (F) Sunny. Sunny, my arm!. Events of Note: Getting down to some serious business. In the Nudes: China cracks down on "terrorists" ahead of Games. ![]() ![]() |
April 08, 2008. Whether the Weather be: 47 (F) Partly Cloudy. A 'quickie' entry to celebrate the fact that I've been awarded a Master's of Public Health (MPH) degree, from my Med School back in New Zealand, with an excellent result. And, here I was, worrying and fretting over stupid technical stuff!. Go me!. Maybe I can finally get a good night's sleep after three months of stressing. Now, I just need to shake my own personal public health illnesses, and go find a real job (after I get the requisite real suit and the real haircut). It wouldn't have been possible without the support of some great mates here at WDC-namely those who endured my daily blog rants about assorted thesis dilemmas. Thank-you. You know who you are, and I ![]() |
April 08, 2008. Whether the Weather be: 41 (F) Cloudy Events of Note: Still unwell, but feel better OUT of bed. In the Nudes: Healthy baby girl born with two faces in India. ![]() As the years wore on, and Patrick physically became bigger and more aggressive, my aunt and uncle decided to put Patrick into an institution during the week, and have him at home at the weekends. In 1994, under a government policy of denistutionalization, the psychopedic hospital where Patrick resided, was downgraded and gradually closed, and all of the residents were subsequently 're-integrated' into the community group home model. Understandably, it was a painful time for everyone, and especially for people like Patrick, living with severe autism, where predictability and routine is (for Patrick anyway) the cornerstone of Patrick's psyche, well-being and whole sense of personal stability. Patrick's parents worried about security under the community model-Patrick loved to climb, to escape, and was so fascinated by vehicles, that he would often break into them, just so he could imagine someone taking him for a drive. As a way of highlighting some of these kinds of issues, they reluctantly agreed to a documentary of their son being made for national television, as well as major newspaper coverage. Patrick's epilepsy and aggression steadily worsened and my aunt and uncle had to stop even weekend visits and outings back to their place for their own and staff's safety. Sadly, in so doing, my aunt and uncle unknowingly relinquished much of their decision-making authority where Patrick's health and well-being was concerned. Often informed in writing of medication and other significant changes, after the fact, as if they were mere spectators in their son's daily life. Even more disturbing, basic factual and medical information was given incorrectly by his 'carers'. It was a difficult balancing act, and still is. My aunt opened up to me at length about her worries and fears for Patrick, especially after my time working as a student assistant at one of the few remaining hospitals for people with severe intellectual disabilities. I think that it has often been all too easy for staff 'caring' for Patrick to exclude him from certain activity and community programs because he's 'difficult'. I don't say that lightly. Working in health and human services is demanding, and there are invariably a woeful lack of resources, and more people in need than can be realistically and safely catered for. The 'solution' from the 'service provider's' point of view is to keep Patrick constantly medicated, so that he can be more conveniently 'managed'. Patrick isn't a human being. He's a 'client'. What kind of quality of life is this?. I suppose that one upside, is that he hasn't ended up in prison (yet), but what happens to people like Patrick in the long-term is a nagging concern that will never really ease up. He is my cousin, and I love and care about what happens to him, very much. The light in his wonderfully dark eyes has diminished, and clouded over under the influence of drugs, and this seems to be the cruelest part of it all. We hope to get to see Patrick when we return to New Zealand. My husband has never met him, and neither has Anya. Maybe we'll take him a dozen banana sandwiches and a CD of "California Dreamin"?. |
April 06, 2008. Whether the Weather be: 46 (F) Clear and cool. Events of Note: Brunch at the beach, and an afternoon in bed. In the Nudes: Cold-store explosion and fire in Waikato, NZ. ![]() ![]() ![]() |
I'm in a poisonous, piss-ant kinda mood today. So, I'm going to refrain from commenting or writing, in case I say something that I KNOW I will regret. Life sucks lemons right now, but I know that tomorrow...the sun will still come out. Have a good weekend!. See?. I can play nice-if I try. |
April 02, 2008. Whether the Weather be: 50 (F) Sunny Events of Note: Beware: I'm in a cantankerous mood. In the Nudes: Irish PM ousted in disgrace. ![]() ![]() |