Murder on the Highway

I confess. I am a murderer.

I killed about a gazillion bugs all over the windshield of my little rice rocket. It was sad. They smeared all over the place almost to the point of affecting my visibility.

I wonder what the population of bugs would be if we didn't have cars. Would we be getting eaten alive by bugs? Because, I already feel like I get eaten alive by them in the summer time. I can only imagine what it would be like if our vehicles weren't here to control their population. I wonder if in all those million bugs all over my windshield, one of them was the very last of a species. That means that it is now extinct. But I will never know for sure.

I wonder...

Drink to My Health

Well, good evening, and welcome to yet another rant from the cowgirl.

Health insurance. Need I say more? It's not insurance, it's, well INSIDIOUS!!! I happen to really like that word, and for those of you who think I don't know what I am talking about, I even happened to look it up!

insidious: adj. 1. intended to entrap or beguile 2. stealthily treacherous or deceitful, (and my personal favorite...) 3. operating or proceeding in an inconspicuous or seemingly harmless way but actually with grave effect.

So it is without question that I do declare health insurance companies to be in fact, insidious altogether. They themselves are an insidious disease (used in the dictionary reference that I cited), that we, ironically, cannot live without. Well, I guess we can, but the question is...how long. They operate in a way that SEEMS harmless ("Oh, yes, we're here to HELP you when you get sick, and help reduce your doctor's bills..."), but in actuality, they are raping you for all you're worth (financially).

Today, after a quite wonderful day of riding and training horses, working cattle and the like, I collected my mail only to be unpleasantly surprised with a notice from my so-called insurance (insidious) company. Effective March 1, my premiums are going to increase. Mind you, this is not an oh-so-small, don't-worry-about-it, it's-not-a-big-deal increase. Oh no, it was a whopping $40.00 per month increase on my already hefty premium. My premium is already increased due to the fact that I was seen previously for something that is not going to ever kill me, but they thought I may cost them a tiny tiny bit of money one day, so they jacked me up. So, now I am getting hit twice!!!!

So what is their excuse, you ask? Oh yes...the rising cost of health care, new technology (of which I have yet to take advantage) etc, etc. Rising cost, my foot! What they don't want to really tell me is that my premium is going to cover the cost of bogus claims by people trying to rape the system. This country is so screwed up. We have to pay outrageous amounts of money to go to university/college, and then once we are out and trying to start a life on our own, we can't afford to get health insurance. Then, of course, because the insurance companies are so crooked, doctors jack up their rates (rising cost of health care) and we all get screwed. To top it all off, no one in government is doing a DANG thing about it. Instead, we are dumping a gazillion dollars in Iraq (a country we will NEVER save...), illegal aliens are having children on US soil to reap our benefits, illegals are getting free health care, workman's comp claims are out of control, social security benefits are dwindling, and the government continues to pay for new computers for all terminals in the VA Hospitals. How screwed up is that???

Is there nothing we can do? Sure I can raise a stink, but it'll get "buried in appropriations" and its business as usual. I can't afford insurance, but I also can't afford to not have insurance. Why are other countries getting it right? Their governments subsidize education and health care.

Health insurance companies are terrorists on our home turf, yet we are out there fighting a war on a concept, not something that is tangible. Let's bring it home, and deal with our problems here. I want to know that if I get sick, I won't feel guilty because I can't pay my doctor's bill. You might as well just shoot me now!

A little much, I know, but that's how I feel. I'm gonna go pop my vitamins and get ready for bed, cuz this here cowgirl wants to ride for years to come.

Systematical Failure

America's "system" is messed up. I don't know how else to describe it. Everything from Social Security (will I get any when I'm old???), to disability, to unemployment! What I mean by screwed up is that there are too many ways to take advantage of the "system" and there are many people out there doing it. Allow me to explain...

I just saw a friend of mine from college recently during the New Year's holiday. He is a firefighter. During the summer months he is on a helicopter crew. He loves what he does. He is in his mid twenties, young, healthy, and enjoying life. Problem is, he enjoys it at the expense of the rest of us. You see, his work season lasts approximately four months, give or take a month or two. He is usually full-time employed during the summer months (the fire months, mind you), and the rest of the year he is a full-time student (sort of) finishing up his bachelor's degree. I met him in the fall of 2000 when I transfered to a four year university. He was in his second year there, I believe. Unfortunately for him, he had some "difficulties" completing his degree in a timely manner with qualifying grades, and had to leave for a short time and beg to come back. I congratulated him when I found out that he wasn't going to give up and that he was going to clean up his act and finish his degree. I thought that was great. What I didn't know was that his poor grades and many alcohol-induced, sleepless nights were paid for by yours truly and the rest of us hardworking taxpayers.

Here is his defense. He works fighting fire during the summer months risking his life to save whoever and whatever, and then is "involuntarily unemployed" because it IS a seasonal position, and then takes unemployment money out to pay for the rest of the year. I asked him recently if he would like to take a job up here at the ranch cutting down some trees in one of our pastures that desperately needs some attention and he said he may be interested, but only if he is paid "under the table" so that he can keep his unemployment money. I couldn't believe it! I look back at the time when I was in school. I too took seasonal positions during the summer months, but as soon as school started back up, I found another job to carry me through until the next summer. The thought of digging into my unemployment money never once even occurred to me! And then to know that it is taking him twice as long to graduate because most of the time was spent partying (when he could have been studying and working part time) makes me so incredibly mad, I felt I had to BLOG about it. So you are now hearing my rant. It's not like he can't find another job to carry him through. Like I said, he's young and healthy; he can read and write, and I am sure has a number of other skills that could be useful to an employer. Heck, anyone can clean a horse stall, and that's what I did to help pay my way through school!

He isn't the first that I have known to do this. Another friend of mine a few years ago was doing a similar thing. Only this guy didn't do ANY work (seasonal or non). He just got laid off one day and decided to live off of unemployment for a while. He was 30 years old. Mind you, he spent hundreds of dollars per month on alcohol, cigarettes, and "great green bud!" Once he drove 4 hours round trip just to buy some really good bud for $200!!! Don't forget, the gas costs money too!!! And he wasn't working for any of that money! It drove me nuts! Meanwhile, I was busting my butt applying for jobs because my seasonal summer job had ended and I needed to pay rent!

And he wondered why he couldn't get a girlfriend...

No wonder the rest of us won't have any social security benefits to look forward to when we get old. No wonder our government is in a deficit. Don't forget we also spend a lot of money on new computers for all the doctors in the VA Hospitals all over the state (see previous blog).

This makes me so mad I want to actually go to someone to "turn him in." But I know that wouldn't fly. Legally, he can do what he's doing, provided he doesn't get paid for any other work, but that IS the problem!!! Our "system" is so non-systematical (is that a word???) that it doesn't work. Unemployment is kind of like insurance money. If you are involuntarily unemployed (not fired) it is money that you have previouslypaid into to get you by until you can become unemployed again. Unfortunately, people think that it is money that they paid into at one time to pay for the rest of their life and all their partying!!!

Someone tell me how we can put a stop to this.

The Cowgirl Rides Again

No, I did not ride off into the sunset. No, I did not get bucked off a horse and die. No, I did not get run over by a stampede of wild cattle. The cowgirl is alive and well. It has been a long time since my last post, and for that I apologize. I believe the Frog has it memorized by now. This one's for you, Gracky!

The cowgirl narrowly survived a long summer in the foothills of Central California. For a while there, I didn't know if I was going to make it, but before I knew it, the first rain had hit and the temperatures finally dropped below ninety degrees at night. I have never been around such severe summer weather as is typical in the Central California region. Oh wait, I just realized that some may not even know why I would be in Central California. Allow me to rewind approximately 8 months. It was about then that I could not take another day at my job and I hurriedly responded to the calls of the great outdoors, horses, and cattle. Yes, I quit my job.

I took a position with a horse ranch located at the base of the Sequoia and Kings Canyon Nat'l Parks. My new town boasts a thriving metropolis of 140 inhabitants, a post office, wanna-be convenience store, and most importantly...a bar. We're sophisticated up here, let me tell you. We also have our fair share of wildlife including coyotes (too many to count), bears, deer, wild pigs, and I even saw a wolf! It was a starving wolf. It was eating roadkill. It was a wolf, nonetheless.

After arriving at the ranch, my life took a strange turn of events. I originally took the position as an assistant trainer/breeder/manager. Kind of the Jill-of-all-trades, kinda cowgirl. Oddly enough, however, the very individual who recruited me to work for her, left the day that I arrived at the ranch. Well, not that day exactly, but that is when she broke the news to me. I was immediately promoted to horse trainer. It wasn't long after that, that the breeding manager decided to try her hand at Vet School in the Bahamas (yes, you can get a DVM and a tan at the same time!) and I took over as manager of the ranch. It's not many places that you can work your way up to the top of the totem pole in a matter of weeks. So here I was at the top with no one under me. I had no full time employees to boss around and a long summer of intense heat quickly approaching.

So that roughly brings you up to speed so I can tell you about the summer. I was riding approximately 6 horses/day and working about 15 others. The temperature for 3 weeks straight stayed above 105 degrees. At night we were given a break and it would drop to a whopping 90 degrees. I'm not kidding! I drove home from hauling horses and looked at the temperature guage in the truck and at 10:00pm, it read 99 degrees! I couldn't believe it! To top it all off, I had no air conditioner or swamp cooler in my house so I spent the nights wide awake and sweating bullets. Here are recaps of a typical summer day at the ranch:

4:30am wake up
5:00 am drive to barn area, water arenas, drag arenas, start saddling horses.
6:00 am start riding horses and working
11:30 pm break for lunch and siesta. eat. spend entire afternoon on couch watching reruns of Law and Order.
6:00 pm peel stuck skin from leather counch and drive back to barn to finish the day.
10:00 pm return home, check the thermometer to confirm that it is still above 90 degrees, fall onto the bed out of sheer heat exhaustion and pretend to sleep on top of the covers.

Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep, but then one day I bought an air conditioner for my bedroom, and life was never the same. I actually slept at night! I could function during the day without 3 or 4 cups of coffee! I love technology. I have never loved a/c so much in my life! It truly is a wonderful thing.

Now we are headed into the cold winter months. I am sure it won't be long when this here cowgirl is begging for blue skies and warm sunshine. But for now, I very much enjoy a nice gray day of fog and chilly nights.

Until next time...

Your Money Down the Toilet

My dad is a physician at the VA hospital. He has been working there for about 3 years or so. This past week, he just received his fourth brand new pc. Yep! You read that right...his FOURTH new computer for his office.

Can you believe it? What the heck does a doctor need with a brand new computer every year? I realize that computers are virtually obsolete the day you purchase them (probably the day they hit the shelves), but I can't see that my dad needs the most up to date system when all he's using is his MS Outlook for e-mail, and the occasional powerpoint presentation. It's not like he's doing graphic design in some huge privately owned firm....which brings me to my next point. Recall he is working at the VA hospital. Where do these hospitals get their funding? You guessed it... And where does good ole Uncle Sam get his big bucks? (Three chances and the first two don't count) Right again! We lowly taxpayers are funding the purchase of a new computer for our VA physicians and staff every year.

So my dad and I did a quick calculation and came up with some interesting numbers. There are approximately (and this is on the conservative side) 2000 computers in the hospital where my dad works. Each year these computers get replaced. Figure on approximately $1000 average per computer (again on the conservative side). This equates to approximately $2,000,000.00 per year spent solely on the purchase of new computers.

But it doesn't just end there. There are approximately 50 VA hospitals in the state of California alone. If each hospital is under the same policy, quick multiplication gives us $100,000,000.00 dedicated to the purchase of new computer systems hospital-wide.

This is not to mention the labor involved in installing these systems and maintaining them. The IT department is responsible for this end of it all and they have employees working to get all the systems up and running. I can't even begin to estimate the cost of labor here.

There is absolutely no reason why computers need to be replaced every year. What I haven't mentioned yet, is that not only is it a brand new computer, the monitor is a brand new 19" flat panel monitor. Does the word overkill mean anything to anyone?

Is anyone else outraged that our tax dollars are going to such frivolous purposes? We continue to have overcrowded classrooms, overworked teachers, increased tuition costs at state schools, yet we continue to cut the education budgets in order to fund...what....computers? This is a ridiculous expense that needs to be evaluated and adressed. I don't even know where to begin.

Some people are wanting my dad to be appointed chief of staff. Those at the top are a little frightened of that prospect. Hmmm...makes sense. Money is going somewhere and it is obviously not in the hands of the right people. Besides, they may not get their new computer every year.

Breast Cancer Awareness

I'm gonna do it again. I'm gonna run for money.

This year will be the 3rd year that I will run in the Revlon Run/Walk for Women. What is this you ask? It is an annual 5k run/walk (I run) to raise money for breast and ovarian cancer research. This will be the 12th Annual Revlon Run/Walk. It will be held in Los Angeles. The 5k (3.1 mile) route winds through downtown LA near the Los Angeles Coliseum. It is a fantastic day where literally thousands of participants join in the fight to raise money for cancer research.

Last year, a young woman whom I had known and worked with (Vikki), lost her life after a long, hard struggle with breast cancer. By the time she passed away, cancer had spread like wildfire throughout her body. She was only 34 years old.

In the past I have simply joined the marathon, almost more out of an excuse to exercise, and raised a little money on the side. This year, I want to get more serious about it. I have set a goal of $3,000. This money goes directly to cancer research. Hopefully, one day we can find a cure or more advanced treatment methods so that others don't have to lose the fight in the same way as Vikki did.

This year I will be running in memory of my grandmother and Vikki, and in support of my aunt. If you so wish to support this wonderful cause, then please make a donation in my name to the Revlon Run/Walk for women. You can visit my personal website at: https://www.revlonrunwalk.com/la/secure/MyWebPage.cfm?pID=211287

Once there, you can make a donation online. If you can, please help me reach my goal of $3,000. Every cent counts.

Also, if anyone wants to join me in running or walking, visit my website and register for the event. I can't even describe the feeling you get when you cross the finish line with 60,000 other participants. It is overwhelming and beautiful to see. If you can't run, but want to offer support, there are other areas in which to volunteer. Please see the website for more information. www.revlonrunwalk.com

Thank you all in advance for your support.

Older and Rounder

It's my birthday tomorrow! I will be a whopping 26 years old! Wow, I feel old. I am now officially MORE than a quarter of a century old. Actually, I don't feel old except for my level of physical activity has decreased significantly since starting this job over a year ago. I am starting to realize that the older you get, the harder it is to get back in shape if you have not been staying in shape. Just this past year I started to go running every day. I used to run 3 miles a day and it took me no time at all to get my muscles in shape and then I would just go and run it. This past year, however, I found that my body was screaming for me to walk more and I didn't have as much motivation to run the whole distance. I seemed to not be able to maintain that level of activity. It is really hard to come to terms with that and then it makes me mad that I do not have the time to work out like I once did. It is especially hard in the winter time when the days are short. I keep telling myself to wake up early and go running, but my bed is so nice and cozy.

When I first started running a few years ago, I had great motivation. I think I am going to create that motivation again this year, and I invite all of you to join me. I have twice run in the Revlon Run/Walk for Women to raise money for breast and ovarian cancer research. I think I am going to sign up for it again. It occurs on Mother's Day weekend in May down here in Los Angeles. The 5k marathon ends in the LA Coliseum and it is a tremendously touching experience.

Check out the website, then determine for yourself if you are interested in joining the fight against breast and ovarian cancer. Maybe I'll see you there in May!

http://revlonrunwalk.com/