Mount St. Helens VolcanoCam - Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument

Mount St. Helens VolcanoCam

Note, this picture updates itself every 5 minutes, so you won't get to see an eruption here, but it's a good picture regardless.

"Courage and Cowardice"

Musings of a Merry Mad Monk: Tells of a story of an American serviceman who almost had his leg blown off by a landmine in Iraq and returned home to be severly beaten outside a Columbus Ohio theatre following a "Toby Keith" concert. Sad and Scary!

Update: I have bumped this story back to the front because I think it is so important for everyone to read this article...If you are visiting this site please take a few minutes to read about this soldiers experience.

Another Catch by Power Line

Power Line: " Slams the AP for its article published by Jennifer Loven titled. "Bush Twists Kerry's Words on Iraq." Never mind the fact that she and husband are both strong Kerry and Democratic supporters and that she is using her position with the AP as a way to voice her biased opinions. A shame that the AP is picked up by newspapers all across the country who believe it to be accurate and proper reporting.

Healthcare crisis, working the night shift and a wake up call.

You really know how OLD you are when you come home from work feeling like a zombie. What happened to those days when you could do 2-3 days with only a couple hours of sleep each night? I have been counting the hours until I get off this night shift. I'm almost there. I worked over again last night and had some appointments today. I have slept only 2 hours since getting up yesterday afternoon. But, I'm off tonight and tomorrow night, I then return for a night shift on Sunday and then I'm finished with nights, atleast for awhile.The light at the end of tunnel is getting close..

I received a wake up call today that put "healthcare" right into the number 2 spot of my concerns. It is now right behind the "War on Terrorism" of my concerns.

I received my new insurance ID cards today, outlining my coverage for next year. Its so bad that I had to reread the policy a couple times to make sure I actually read it right. You should always know that when you have a low payroll contribution and a very low co-pay on doctor visits, the next sentence is going to be a dandy! Here it is! $10,000.00 maximun coverage per year. What? In case you havent dealt much with healthcare cost let me explain something. I had a surgery last year that while not pleasant was far from being one of the top most expensive surgeries in the world. The cost of that surgery alone, not including pre and post op tests and physician visits nor including the hospital bill was more than $50,000.00..Considering that, can someone tell me what 10,000.00 is going to do for someone in a medical crisis?

I use to worry about my previous plan that had a 2 million dollar lifetime coverage. Hmmm, lets figure that up. I'm 52 right now so if I live another 30 years, which I think is probably stretching it, and use every bit (which of course I won't)of my 10,000.00 per year thats available then this plan would have paid around 300,000.00.. But, thats all missing the point. You arent going to have a medical crisis each and every year but you might have (1) that easily costs in excess 100,000.00. With this plan you would drive yourself to bankruptcy because of it...

I have to spend some time trying to figure out what it is I need to do now because of this. Obviouly this isn't a health plan for anyone who really needs a health plan. It might work great for the group of young folks in the 20-40 year range when 10,000.00 per year may very well cover what they would need it to cover, but, for us baby boomers it isn't going to work. Anyway thats my rant for the day!

If I can stay awake long enough Im going to post tonight on why I think George Bush is the best of the two..

"Terror and Victory"

Michael J. Totten: is one of my favorite writers. I read his blog daily and agree with much of his beliefs. Yesterday he wrote about the war in Iraq that deserves alot of credit and attention..

Power Line: He Can't Help Himself

Power Line: tells about Kerry's visit to West Palm Beach and how he is using the threat that Bush will implement the draft next year if elected. " The man will stop at nothing except giving us truth! I think he makes more enemies every time he opens his mouth. Michelle Malkin also gives some really good reporting about this topic.

CBS: Bush Memo Story A 'Mistake'

A "Rather" lame excuse of an apology from CBS: Bush Memo Story A 'Mistake' . The big question has yet to be answered. Where did these fake documents orginate from? There will be no peace until that question gets answered. Dan Rather should be fired or he should resign.

When it does get answered there better not be a return addess of "Kerry's headquarters." If that happens, this campaign will be over. My bet is that they came from Max Clellan!

Hurricane Ivan....Above the eye

This is pretty neat. It's a picture taken Above the Eye of Hurricane Ivan

Power Line

Power Line: offers "Statement and translation" of the CBS news report that finally took place sometime late this afternoon. As I, and probably most everyone else, predicted, they are sticking to their original story. Pretty pathetic. Powerline gives a really good translation. Those guys should get a military decoration for the work they have done in the past few days. As should Glenn Reynolds.

A Little Humor Helps Us All

These are 30 second comics performed by bunnies. Very cute, very funny. Check out "the shining" and "the exorcist".

Saddam Hussein and Bin Laden; Propaganda?

So many people want to separate the war in Iraq from the war on terrorism. I decided to do some research and see how many connections I could find between Saddam and terrorism (Al-Qaeda). I was going to make my own chronological list, But, I came across an article that does it better than I ever could. Is (was) there a direct link between Iraqi govt. and Bin Laden? I knew enough about some of these events that I have believed for a long time that there was. I just didn't know how many meetings and to what extent Hussein has shown his support for Terrorism against us. Take a look at this site and when you read this, be prepared, because it is 27 pages long. you may want to reference any concerns you have to the actual articles that are all listed in order at the end of the article. WORLD THREATS

A Bad Day

I don't know why I even want to post anything this evening. I'm so tired my eyes are about half closed right now. I got up at 3:30 this morning after a nite of almost no sleep. Couldn't get to sleep until after 1:00am. Got to work about 4:45, was supposed to get off at 2:00 but the was asked to work until 6:00pm...So, I just got home and must soon get some sleep because I am back up at 3:30 again tomorrow..

On the one hand I want to try and stay awake for a long time this evening to make my off time seem to last longer. But, I know I can't do 2 days like today in a row with no sleep inbetween..

The good news is that tomorrow I must leave work on time, as I have to get my grandaughter from school tomorrow afternoon..God, I love spending time with grandkids! Tomorrow I will go in and meet her teacher, (Tessa has been asking me too since school started).Then we will go home, have a snack, and I will listen to her read to me for awhile. I love listening to her sound out all the letters of every word and then put them all together.

I'm just rambling on now (sleep deprived) so it is time to put myself to bed.

burnbabyburn

Michelle Au over at "The Underwear Drawer" has a new comic, burnbabyburn, as always her comics are hilarious. Michelle is a Resident MD at a very prominent hospital in NYC. If you havent checked out her blog and her comics, you won't be dissapointed when you do..Now, I just have to wait and see if she selects my nursing school story to become one of her comics. The wait is on...:)

Is anybody here?

Does anyone ever read this blog? If so do you like it, hate it, what? If noone responds to this post I think I will close the blog. Just seems to much like talking to myself when none of you ever leave a comment to let me know you have read. If you dont like it, give me suggestions of ideas you would like me to blog about. Tell me something that will get your attention and I will try my best...I know I'm getting hits daily as my hit counter delivered through email tells me I am, so sound off and let me hear you.

Francis and Florida

My brother and my sister who both live in Florida have survived natures latest attacke on their state. My Brother lives in Port St. Lucie, just minutes away from Stewart, where Francis first hit land.

They had prepared for about 3 days for her arrival and decided to ride it out at home rather than seek shelter else where..They had a house built just a few years ago and had hurricanes in mind when they did..The extra protection provided enough that they came out of this with only very minimal damage, unlike some of their unfortunate neighbors.

They are very disheartened over the fact that within a week they very possibly might be facing yet a third hurricane as Ivan seems to be heading for them.

They want to sell their home and move back north. It is just becoming to much to deal with all these hurricanes.

My good friend Shauna and her family who live in Port Charlotte, got hammered during Charley,they lost their roof, master bedroom and severe water damage. Last Thursday with Francis starring everyone in the face, Shauna and family gave up hope, got in their car and came to Ohio. She says they will stay here until getting the all clear from Ivan, then return home, get their house fixed up, put it on the market and then return to Ohio for good..

I wonder how many other people have the same ideas? I wonder what these hurricanes will do to property values? I think alot of folks are going to be leaving Florida so there might be many houses and mobile homes for sale. But then one has to wonder just who might be interested in buying a house in Florida?

My Sister spent 2 nights in a shelter again this past weekend. Personally I wouldn't live in that state if someone gave me a home there..I tried a few years ago to live there and lasted 5 months..I was bitten by a "brown recluse spider" while there. It was the sickest I have ever been in my life. 5 years later, I still have ill effects from that experience.

Anyway, I'm very happy my family fared as well as they did during this recent nightmare, and, I'm very sorry for the less fortunate ones...My Prayers go out to everyone that lives there, lets hope that Ivan blows himself out before reaching land.

Kerry and Narcississtic Tendencies?

I was surfing around and found a blog by a mind doctor that sums up JFK better than I ever could..

As for his midnight speech in Springfield ohio, all he accomplished was to show how very desparate he has become..Anyone that was there or heard it, knows it was quite pitiful.But, Kerry has become quite pitiful almost on a daily basis lately.

I've had people tell me that they are so sick of hearing hearing Republicans trash Kerry, over his VietNam service ,when Bush didn't serve anytime in VN.

I'm not a registered Republican, and in my life I have voted the democratic ticket more times than republican. This will not be one of those times. The Rebublicans have my full 100% support this time around.

I don't care if Bush didn't serve in Viet Nam. I do care about a vet who did serve there for 4 months and came home calling all his fellow vets baby killers, war mongers and villians. I care about the fact that the same man that did that, now tries to use Viet Nam as his excuse to tell the American people he is a hero..People have spent 30 years trying to get the nightmares, created by Viet Nam, out of their system and then comes John Kerry who brings it all back like it was yesterday.

Why does he do it? Probably because he has nothing else to stand on. He saw it as something he could use to get an edge on Bush and unfortunately, it has terribly backfired.

I'm concerned about the percent of people who now want us to believe that just because Bush didn't serve in Viet Nam means he isn't capable of serving as President of our country. Huh?

Bush has proven over and over again that he is no weakminded pussy trying to hide from our enemies..There are many men and women who were made to rule and not necessarily have to be in the shuffle of things.

After all, when he was still alive do you think Sam Wall ever ran a damn register at your local Wal-Mart? Odds are he didn't nor did he have any inclination to do so. Anyone care to call Mal-Mart a failure because it's founder, owner, president and CEO never spent a day in his life running a cash drawer or carrying out the trash?

This election should not be about Viet Nam and who did what 30 years ago. It should be about who cares about America and isn't afraid of making choices that are for our best interest no matter who gets pissed about it. It should about who can keep us safe?

George Bush has proven himself to me, what has John Kerry proven to us?

Hurricane Francis and Family

Seems like we just did this worrying thing with a hurricane! People still cleaning up from Charley and now getting hammered with winds from Francis awaiting land hit, now predicted for early am hours tomorrow...

My brother and sister-in-law are right in the projected path of St Lucie county..They live in port St. Lucie and he works in West Palm...They DID NOT evacuate...Mainly due to the fact they have a new home that is suppossed to withstand hurricanes...They have all their shutters up and have spent the last 3 days preparing for this..

They had intentions of leaving, but quickly found that there were no motels or hotels available all the way through southern Georgia...Other people tried to leave, after spending 13 hrs. on the highway, only getting as far as Orlando, turned around and went home to ride it out.

I've never heard of a hurricane movng as slowly as what this one is...According to reports it may hammer areas for many hrs. before moving out...I Pray my family and everyone survives this with as little damage as possible....

BLACKFIVE: Iraq - The Things That Were Good And The Things That Were Not Good

There are no words that I can say that could accurately describe this. Written by a military Doc. in Iraq. You must read!

BLACKFIVE: Iraq - The Things That Were Good And The Things That Were Not Good

What Did Kerry Say?

5 deferments VS 2 (two) tours of duty!

Yep, thats what he said...What the hell does that mean? I didn't know 4 months equaled 2 tours of duty!

I will be absolutely certain to inform my brother, my sister (in reference to her husband) and all of my cousins and friends that did the normal 12-13 months in Viet Nam that they actually did 6-7 tours of duty! But then again, us stable people realize that 12-13 months actually equaled (1) tour of duty.

The RNC and President Bush

I think the democrats are probably about to hide under a tree knowing that President Bush will surely get a "Bounce" from his convention...Although, then again, maybe they don't even know what the word "bounce" means..SINCE THEY DIDN'T GET ONE! In fact, Kerry has been losing points since his convention...Go figure, who would have ever thought that?

When you think about some of the most "nervy" Americans of all time the name "Michael Moore" has to be in those thoughts. How he can have the nerve to show up night after night at the RNC is so far beyond me I don't have a clue..The man makes me want to throw up! He is the most repulsive "fuck" I have ever seen. And, what an ego he has...He thinks so much of himself that he actually believed when MCCAIN insulted him that McCain didn't realize he was there.....LOL...."Honey sweetiepie, he knew and everyone else knew you were there! You would be quite hard to miss even to a blind man..Your stench gives you away every time"..

As soon as I have some real time to work on my blog I'm going to post alot about Michael Moore and what hole he should find himself in. But, between work, life, kids, grandkids and siblings that live in an area of the country that seems to be on an every 2 week hurricane schedule, I can't get much accomplished right now..So, it must wait!

I have to go and get ready to listen to Bush tonight.."Don't worry Michael, the President will not be insulting you! He knows your not worth it!"

10 reasons why not to have a hysterectomy

As promised here is my (with the help of another post H friend) list of 10 reasons not to have a hysterectomy. They are in no order of importance;


10. You lose all resemblance of self. It becomes your mothers face looking at you from every mirror.

9. K-Y jelly becomes your best friend

8. You will never again sleep an entire night without waking up, burning up and soak n wet.

7. You will go broke buying high powered (presumably powered with a jet engine) fans of every size to have in every corner of every room..

6. Your family will freeze to death.

5. Unlike PMS when your husband just thinks he married someone with manic disorders, after hysterectomy, he knows it to be fact.

4. Quickly learn the definition of middle age spread

3. Facial hair that requires weekly standing appointments for electrolysis..

2. Without raging hormones, you see your husband for what he REALLY is.

1. The word "Bitch" keeps popping up during self evaluations.