Government "Help"

With all of this talk about government run healthcare, and the government competing with private insurers (now that's fair), I though I'd take a look at how well government agencies run the other organizations that are supposed to "help" us. This story of one person's experience with government agencies is the perfect illustration, at least for me, on why government should never be given control over something as important as our healthcare.

My niece is 26 years old and physically and psychologically disabled. Due to both her physical and emotional issues she is unable to hold to a job. A doctor testified to this. However, it took her over a year to get disability insurance. Why? Because it is standard operating procedure for government disability to automatically decline all claims the first time they are filed. But isn't this what the government accuses private insurance of doing? Vilifying them for it? She had to get a lawyer and take her claim to court in order to get her benefits. Then her lawyer, from legal aid, was not going to be able to attend the hearing and Aimee, my niece, had to go on her own. She was told she had to read a statement to the judge. This is great except that one of her issues is that she's severely learning disabled and has a very difficult time reading. Not to mention her emotional issues of having to stand up there by herself. I was unable to be with her because she lives 1,300 miles away from me.

Once her claim was approved and was supposed to begin, she didn't get a check. This is because the person in charge of the county benefits didn't submit the cancellation paperwork. What was her option to get this resolved....wait until the person submits the paperwork. In the meantime they had cancelled her food stamps but not the other benefits so she was still reliant on the county but had no food stamps for the month. They had cancelled those you see and had no emergency process to get her any for the month. And she has a small son. The next thing that happened was that she was shorted in her benefits. She didn't get the amount that she was supposed to. Again she goes and tries to get this resolved and what they tell her is, "I've fixed it in the computer and it will be right next month." But what about this month? She just has to do without that money that her budget was based on. And it was a significant chunk of her benefits. Just imagine if your employer forgot to cut your check and told you the amount would be right next week but they couldn't get you anything this week.

But wait, it gets even worse. Her case worker has now been found to be embezzling the food stamps from the recipients. Aimee did not get hers at all for June, and she was not the only one. The computer showed them going out, but they never appeared on her card. So what is being done to get her food for the month? Nothing. She has been told that everything is frozen until the investigation into the case worker is completed. So she's just SOL again.

In these situations it becomes clear that the bureaucracy is more important than the people. There is no emergency process in place to take care of issues or mistakes. The mistakes of the government staff are instead carrying by those they are supposed to be helping. It's horrible to be told that your food budget is gone for the entire month, but imagine if this happened to you with your healthcare. What would happen if your file was misplaced? Would you be denied your treatment? Probably.

I have my own personal story with the Social Security Department. I lost my social security card and applied for a replacement. They sent me a letter saying that I needed to verify my date of birth because I had submitted that I was born in one year and they had my date of birth 10 years earlier. A typo on their part. I submitted the verification. Then I received a request for a copy of my birth certificate. So I sent off for a new birth certificate (I'd lost that too) and sent a copy in. Then I received a letter from the Social Security Dept saying they needed the original. By the time I could take off work to get in to give them my birth certificate (I wasn't sending it through the mail) they admonished me for taking so long to come in because now they had to re-enter the information in the computer. It doesn't matter that coming in meant I had to leave work because they're only open during regular working hours, I had inconvenienced them and they let me know it. I finally did get my new card but it took me 8 months in order to correct THEIR mistake.

And this is the same type of process that we want for our healthcare? I sure don't.

Could I Live Where There's a Queen?

On my recent hop across the pond (told you I wouldn't shut up about it) I went to see Buckingham Palace and even got a sighting of Balmoral, and I joke about getting a summer house in Scotland. But, could I really live under a reign of a royal family. I don't think so.

I have just a wee bit of a problem with the whole idea that it is one person's God given birth right to rule over others. This even used to extend from the Royal family and into the House of Lords. Born to rule. Some sense has been obtained and the House of Lords is now mainly appointed. Not elected. Appointed. By who? The Lords on the appointment committee. Makes it so much better dontcha think? I don't believe I could ever resign myself to the idea of being governed by somebody who is only there because of the family they were born into. We may have people here (Ted Kennedy anyone?)that think ruling is their birthright, but they still have to get us to buy into it and elect them. Unfortunately, they often succeed. But at least they are in office because we're idiots and not because it's their God given right.

Ordained by God is what they say. But how do they know that. With all of the overthrows and changes of power, all of the uprisings and wars and intermarriages, how can they still believe that THEY are ordained by God? Wasn't Lady Jane Grey ordained by God? And they had her beheaded. What if the rule of England should still be with the Stuarts? My overly logical mind can't fathom the idea of believing that somebody was born to rule just because of the their parents.

There may be people who were born to rule. They have God given TALENTS that make them great leaders. Unfortunately, either few of them seek public office or we don't recognize them when they do. But at least here we have the power to vote out ALL of our officials. We do not have to wait for the President to die and hope his heir is a better ruler.

And then there's the Prime Minister. There was a lot of news on the tele while I was over there about Gordon Brown and his party losing support and whether Gordon Brown would still be Prime Minister. I tried to research how the Prime Minister is determined, but couldn't quite figure it out. So feel free to comment if you know and can explain it. But it appeared to me that the Prime Minister is the ruler of the party in power, so if you're in power, you're really in power. Could you imagine if your President was determined not by our free election but by whichever party held Congress. Not much of a checks and balances situation. Although, I could be wrong about how the whole PM thing works. It has been known to happen.

So as much as I loved Scotland and it's scenery, as much as I would love to be able to go there whenever I wanted and stay as long as I wanted, could I ever consider myself a citizen of the UK. Nope, I don't think so.

I really believe that "all men are created equal" and believing that, how could I ever come to terms with the idea that members of my government were created "better"? I can't. I may not agree with everything the government does here, but at least I feel secure in my ability to affect change. So when it comes right down to it, I can never be anything but what I am. A red blooded American to the tips of my stubby white toes. And I thank God for it.

The Power of a Beautiful View

I found Scotland one of the most hauntingly beautiful places I've ever visited, and yet, I can't help but wonder if it is as beautiful to those who see it every day.

Where I live there is beautify everywhere. I'm in a low mountain range, on a plateau, but there are rolling hills covered in trees. The scenery can be absolutely breathtaking, especially in the spring and fall. But I rarely even see it anymore. I tend to become a bit oblivious to my surroundings. I once had a small Christmas tree on my desk until April because I just didn't see it anymore.

While I was wondering around Scotland I kept imagining what it would be like to see that view every day, how nice that would be. But then began to wonder if the natives took their scenery as much for granted as I take my own. I hope they don't.

There is a lot of talk about how we become desensitized to violence and ugliness because we see so much of it, but does the same thing happen with beauty? Do we need to see beauty elsewhere in order to see that which surrounds us every day? I did.

When talking about my trip to a co-worker (you just really can't shut me up about it) she mentioned a favorite quote of hers. As a dedicated traveller this meant a lot to her, and I see it's truth so I'm sharing it with you. The saying goes, and I'm doing this from memory so I may get it wrong, "Life is a book, and if you don't travel, you only see one page." We should all flip the page now and then.

I've included the views I found the most peaceful and soothing. The views that had the most profound effect on me. The views that will stay with me forever. The pictures that cannot do justice to the beauty I experienced but that I continue to view over and over again. I hope you enjoy them. And if you get the chance, I hope you experience them for yourself.

British Puzzle Plumbing

You may have heard about Chinese Puzzle Boxes, but on my recent hop across the pond I discovered British Puzzle Plumbing. Using the facilities was truly an education experience and certainly exercised my problem solving skills.

While travelling through England and Scotland I saw more designs for toilets, sinks and showers than I've ever seen before. Some of them were an engineering challenge. The toilets were usually squat and square, but how to flush them varied quite a bit. You had the traditional lever which was pretty rare, but you also had toilets with no tank that flushed by pushing a big button in the wall. There were dual button flushes that controlled the amount of water that went through. Press 1 button for number 1 and both buttons for number 2. But the really interesting thing was that many of the toilets had to be primed. You'd flush and, like a car trying to turn over, the toilet would sputter and stop. Press again and it might sputter again or it might flush, but I rarely got one to flush on the first attempt. Three was usually the magic number. But when they did flush, whoa baby. Some had the water hit the bowl with such force that a geyser came up out of the bowl. I'm just glad I wasn't still sitting on it when that happened.

The sinks were interesting as well. I've attached a picture of one of my favorites. The sink was beautiful, and the faucet as well. But in order to make water actually run you had to turn the band that looked more like decoration than function. I waved my hands under that one for a while before figuring out that it wasn't automated. Another that comes to mind was a lever that moved up and down. It showed you how to get hot and cold but what it didn't show you was how to get water. In order to make water flow you had to pull part of it out at an angle then turn for desired temperature. This one took me a while to figure out because I'd had a beer with dinner. So if you're going to the UK, scope out the facilities and how they work BEFORE you start to drink.

Then there were the showers. Oh the showers. They were by far the most interesting of all. There was one in particular that I needed a helpline for. One of the most interesting things was that the tubs were raised higher inside than the floor outside. A bit of a challenge for a short person or anybody unsteady on their feet. Stepping in to the tub wasn't so bad, but when it came to stepping out, from a wet tub with wet feet, onto a floor several inches lower than you think it should be, you'd better hang on to something. I almost ended up on my backside several times. I'm only 5'2" tall and there was at least one bathtub that gave me a cramp in my thigh getting out of. I can't imagine a kid trying to get into those babies alone.

And now for my favorite shower story. While travelling I was sharing a room with my parents. Mainly to save money but I also didn't see a real need for my own room. In this case I was really glad to have them. I'd gone to the room after dinner before them, and was taking my shower at night because of an early departure, 3 people, and one bathroom. I hiked my leg up to my shoulder and tumbled into the tub. I turned the hot and cold water on and water began pouring from the faucet into the tub. So far so good. But how to make the water go from the faucet to the shower head. Either of them. There was a detachable shower head and another installed in the ceiling. For the life of me I couldn't figure out how to get the water from one place to another. I'd given up hope, slid my butt onto the tub floor and resigned myself to a bath instead of a shower. Not my favorite thing. Then to my utter salvation my parents entered the room. I yelled out to them my frustration with the plumbing and they found the instructions for the shower. Yes, it had instructions. Were they in the bathroom? No, they were by the coffee pot. Good place for them don't you think? It turns out that the device on the shower wall with the play and pause button was not a radio after all. It was the shower control. The shower was in no way connected to the controls for the tub. No wonder I couldn't figure it out. So at last I had my shower. While sharing this story with a fellow traveller the next day the shower situation got even better. Her control kept beeping because the battery was nearly dead. So what would happen if you were in this electronically controlled, super advanced, technological marvel of a shower and it's battery died? Would you just be left soapy? Probably.

Then we had a room that had no tub at all. It had a shower stall. Oh glory. I was so excited to see that. Until I tried to use it. The shower stall doors only opened a little way and this is exactly where the water sprayed when the shower was on. So in order to get the temperature where you wanted it you either had to stand in spray that was too hot and /or too cold, or let water spray onto the bathroom floor. Then the doors didn't close completely so there was water on the floor anyway. So I wasn't quite as impressed after using it.

I had a great time on my trip to the UK, but the plumbing was an adventure I hadn't expected.

Handicap Inaccessibility in the UK - When Lobbying Actually Works

There is a lot of talk about getting rid of lobbyists, and for the most part I agree. We tend to end up writing laws in the best interest of the minority instead of in the best interest of the majority. But the minority must be considered by the majority as well. In my recent trip to the UK I found an example of where lobbying really worked in the US. This is as it relates to legislation around handicap accessibility.

In the US it is a requirement that buildings and bathrooms be accessible to the handicapped. This is not so in the UK as, travelling with somebody mildly handicapped, became quite literally painfully obvious. In the castles and historical buildings this is to be expected. They were built way before the handicapped would be considered and while a wheel chair meant somebody was carrying you. At Edinburgh Castle the bathrooms were in what looked like a dungeon. But the most egregious example I saw of the inaccessibility was in the London underground. A modern facility. I was travelling with my parents and my mother has had a recent hip replacement and also needs to have her knees replaced. She walks well, if slowly, but stairs are difficult for her. And stairs were required to get anywhere, but especially in the underground. We decided to see London on foot and so I got a map of central London with the tube stops listed, and a tube map and we set off to see the sites. However, we quickly found that in order to get to the tube, stairs were required. If, on the rare occasion, there was an escalator, there was also at least one flight of stairs. If you needed to change tube lines, you had to go up or down stairs. To get out of the tube stop, you had to go up stairs. And I'm not talking 5 or 6 steps, but in some cases as many as 40. In a city where the public transport is encouraged, it doesn't make it easy for everybody.

On our last day in London, when I'd already worn my Mother out, we took the tube to Hyde park. By the time we arrived the public facilities were needed. But were the facilities in the tube station? Nope. You had to go up 20 stairs to get out to the public restrooms and then they were back underground. I've attached a picture of the stairs required to get to the public toilet. Seeing this my mother opted to wait and do the potty dance until we found a restroom in a nearby hotel. A suggestion made by a passerby. By the end of the day my mother was in so much pain from climbing stairs that she had to get a wheelchair in the airport. Something she has not had to do for quite some time. However, I do have to say that upon my return I was much stronger by having climbed so many stairs. It could be that the Brits are in better shape than we are because they HAVE to take stairs everywhere, but it does seriously limit the accessibility for those that are physically unable to climb them.

Our handicap accessibility was due to lobbying on Washington DC and I applaud them for this. There is an expense involved, but at least the building is available to all. So if you're planning on going to the UK, and especially if you're planning on taking the tube, you might want to build up your strength on the old StairMaster first.

Scotland - A Must See In The World

I just returned from a trip through Scotland and, I have to say, I fell madly in love. If you've never been, I highly recommend a trip. It took everything I had in me to return when I did and I am an American to my very core. But something about Scotland really spoke to me. Actually living there might be different, and I could never leave the USA permanently, but a summer home sounds like a grand idea to me.

My parents joined me on the trip and it was such a wonderful experience to share with them. We took a guided tour with COSMOS and I'm so glad we did. The tour began in London and went up to Edinburgh, up around the East coast to Inverness, then over to the West coast to the islands and down to Glasgow, then back to London. We also spent a few extra days in London on our own which was nice as well. But being on a guided tour made all the difference for me. Not only did I not have to drive on the wrong side of the road in unfamiliar territory when I already have a strong tendency to get lost, but the historical and geological information that was imparted to us by our totally phenomenal tour guide, Peter Scott, was one of the best parts of the trip. Everything we saw he had information on. We received historical information on every castle and every point of interest. We received the story on the uprising of the '45 as we went by Culloden Battlefield. We received the geological information on cliffs and the stark, bare mountains of the highlands. We learned about the clearing of the clans and why the highlands are so sparsely populated now. It was brilliant! Our accommodations were good though the plumbing was so interesting that it will get it's own blog.

The islands were my favorite part of the trip and the photos that I took just cannot do them justice. Everywhere you looked it was beautiful and awe inspiring. I've been home less than 48 hours and already want to return. The only downside to the trip was a group of 10 that were inconsiderate to the other travellers and insisted on speaking while our tour guide was talking. My mother took to smacking them with her cane to get their attention and then telling them to shut up. It was pretty entertaining. It appears some of them didn't speak English well and were unable to whisper. They pretty much figured that if they were done listening then nobody else needed to listen either. That group did serve the purpose of bonding the rest of the travellers though. And the others on the tour were great. It was wonderful to meet people from all over the world and share the experiences with them. There are several that I plan to keep in contact with.

There will be many blogs in the days to come on this trip, but the one thing I wanted you to know was how much I really, really loved it. If you're looking to take a trip overseas but don't know where to go or what to see, I recommend a guided tour. And if you can get Peter Scott as your tour guide count yourself very, very fortunate. The true benefit of a guided tour is not just the information the guide imparts, but it acts like a recon mission to see a bit of everything so you can decide what you want to see more of. For me, that means the Scottish Hebrides. I will definitely return there at some point in my life, and the sooner the better.

I Off Across the Pond

I've been planning for years to take a trip to Scotland and tomorrow I finally head out. I'll be travelling with my parents (how pitiful is that). Actually they're going with me. I planned to go and they asked if they could come along and what could I say. It's going to be pretty special because my father with have his birthday while we're there.

I've had several people say they are going to stow away in my luggage, but they'll have to pay for the charge for the bag being over 5o lbs. I have so many things I've wanted to see for years and plan on overdosing on scenery.

We will be taking an organized tour through COSMOS which will start in London and then take us up and around Scotland. We talked about doing a self-drive tour but decided against it. To give you some perspective on why we did that, when I was a kid we used to do the national Lampoon's family vacations and, as a result, we have been lost in every large city in the continental US and most of the small ones. Considering that we can't get around Buffalo without looking so lost that a motorcycle driver knocked on our window to help, we figured a foreign country where the drive on the wrong side of the street could be really dangerous.

I'm off tomorrow morning so this will be my last blog for 2 weeks. It also explains why I haven't been blogging much lately. Preparation, preparation, preparation.

But the house is clean (sort of) the cats will be taken care of, my restless leg prescription has been filled, my credit card company has been notified of the travel so I don't get there get myself on fraud watch and my cards frozen. So I'm good to go and so excited and bouncing up and down so fast that I might quite literally be beside myself.

When I return I will be regaling you all with the effusive descriptions of my wonderful travels. See ya.