Tuesday, December 04, 2018

TWO


15 comments:

  1. Court filings in the next few weeks expected to shed light on what Mueller has learned from people who were once in Trump's inner circle. [Click] A nice little summary from NBC.

    New Hampshire Secretary of State Contest [Click] Notable factoids: NH official is elected by the legislature; 400 members in the lower house! [For a state with a third the population of the city (let alone the metro area or county) of Los Angeles.]

    Ocasio-Cortez Burns Mike Huckabee: Leave ‘False Statements’ To Your Daughter [Click] She is a master of the whip-smart response; excellent!

    The majority of the column is behind a paywall, but under the headline “Trump Getting Sloppy With Money-Laundering Past,” Johsh Marshall points to something that bears watching: “…But today Trump got remarkably incautious, even by his standards… But another comment got a lot less attention – one that suggests that Trump may now be lashing out and in the process blurting out clues about his own history of money laundering and business partnerships with people tied to members of Russian and Ukrainian organized crime.”

    The Re-beavering of the American West [Click] A long but gratifying read.

    Mueller Is Laying Siege to the Trump Presidency [Click] “It won’t be a single news event that takes down the president.” Yes, a much better analogy; I remember reading Clausewitz on siege a long time ago.

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  2. LOL Alan, forget twenty. I'd settle for things working as well and feeling as good as they did at forty!

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  3. A whole lot'a nothin' happened at my doc apt. this morning. To begin with, they were about a quarter hour late taking me. That seemed to bother Patty a lot more than it did me. Not that it thrilled me, but I was resigned rather than impatient.

    So, we got in and talked to the P.A., whom I didn't get a great vibe from; though as I think of it now, it might just have been that she was overworked. She did eventually tell me that even as little as one or two cups of coffee in a day might be too much for my system, and to switch to decaff.*

    There was a major miscommunication somewhere, because she didn't seem to grasp that my P.A. had sent me there because I needed a GYN exam *and, while I was there*, they could begin investigating my bladder trouble. Neither the P.A. nor the doctor, when we eventually saw him, seemed to grasp that the apt. was intended to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. Both were highly displeased and said I should have been sent to a urologist. *sigh*

    There was also a great deal of discontent over my needing assistance getting onto the exam table. The P.A. has a bad back and would not be able to lift me. Patty explained that lifting was not necessary, merely assistance. She was willing to lend a hand with that assistance. But both P.A. and doc were adamant that no exam could take place because I could not be gotten onto the table. Both expressed displeasure that the apt. had not been made for January, by which time they would be in their new office with electronic (raisable and lowerable) tables.

    The doc allowed as how they could get started with the urine test, and sent us back out to see the P.A. again. For some reason that I didn't catch, the specimen couldn't be taken there. She sent us downstairs to the lab.

    "I'll need assistance in the facilities."

    "Oh, it's a lab. I'm sure they'll be able to help you."

    Meanwhile, she said she'd have to call to let me know when I could get an apt. at the new office.

    So, we trekked downstairs to the lab. "I'll need assistance in the facilities."

    "Oh, we can't do that. We'll send a specimen bottle home with you."

    By the time we got back to the car, I was boiling over! "You see," I said to Patty, "this is why I never go to the doctor!" She actually laughed and told me that wasn't a bad day at all, but rather a pretty much run-of-the-mill one. Like I told her, if that's the way the big world is, I'm perfectly content under my rock!

    *I may have mentioned before on this blog, but practically everything reminds me of a song. There is a song called "Bianca" in Cole Porter's "Kiss Me Kate." In this song, Bianca is, er, not pronounced the Italian way.

    Bianca, Bianca!
    Oh, baby, will you be mine?
    Bianca, Bianca!
    You'd better answer yes or Papa spank'a
    To win you, Bianca
    There's nothing I would not do
    I'd even switch from coffee to Sanka
    Even Sanka, Bianca, for you!

    While typing the above sentence, I had to physically stop myself from typing, "switch from coffee to Sanka."

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    1. You know, Cat, some doctors graduate at the *bottom* of their class. Sound like you need a doctor with some humanity to him/her.

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    2. My impression, Susan, was that he wasn't a bad sort, really. There was lack of clear communication between my P.A. (more likely the practice's office) and the GYN office.

      Another thing that gradually percolated to the top of my muddy brain is that, despite my friend being there to lend a hand, or perhaps because my friend was there, they didn't want to risk trying to get me up onto the table. If I slipped or fell, especially with a fully sighted witness, and especially if I sustained injuries through the fall, I would sue them. Isn't C.Y.A. the first thing they teach them in med school? :P

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    3. Ohhhhh mannnnnn!

      Lack of clear communication and overextended doctors make such a waste of time for everyone, especially us "patients." (I actually think it's an insult to call us "patients" ~ like some directive.) I blame insurance companies for forcing doctors to see too many people each day. And I blame the AMA for not pushing back against the profit industry more. We sure need healthcare reform!

      But, that said, any MD or PA or RN ought to have enough common sense and compassion to be of some assistance were needed!! Egads. You have every right to call your GYN and the PA and anyone else you like before your next visit, to ensure everyone is on the same page. And for the docs not to know what the lab actually does is absurd. You might want to call and educate them.

      Do whatever you need and whatever you feel good about doing, of course. It seems we all need an advocate when we go to the doctor these days.

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  4. Decaf listener and Alan certified: Mount Hagen Instant Decaf--a far cry from Sanka [Click] Really good taste (dissolve in cold water, make up to volume and nuke it), ticks off about every box one can think of. I can have a cuppa late at night and not have to get up to use the necessary. Available at Amazon, Whole Paycheck, other stores--Walmart, even.

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    1. Thanks! I'll give it a try.

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    2. Yes, do! We read that it's not a good idear to take caffeine while you have swollen glands, so Wil has been using my Decaf. AND! You could have knocked me over with a feather when Mr. Regular Coffee declared that Mount Hagen Decaf is as good as Mount Hagen Regular...!!! 😮

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    3. We usually just dissolve it in hot water from the teapot. Either way...instant goodness.

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    1. Podcast is similar to listening to the radio. Some even have commercials. The beauty of it is, you cam listen at your convenience and more than once, rather than being constrained by a broadcast time.

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    2. Generally I prefer my information in written rather than spoken form, but I also have some reluctance to try new-fangled things. This subject piques my interest.

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    3. It really wasn't all that interesting, at least the part I heard before I fell asleep.

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  6. Mueller Recommends No Prison Time for Flynn [Click] “…most of the details of Flynn’s cooperation with the special counsel’s office were blacked out in the memo.” Looks like two messages to me: for defendants: Cooperate fully and things will go pretty well for you; for Trump and his lackeys: keep guessing about what we know.

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