Old Timer's Journal: What's "RICH?"

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Wednesday July 06, 2011 · 1:33 PM PDT

2011/07/06 · 13:33

Just finished reading Bink's diaries discussing the article about people who make 250,000 a year having a tough time making ends meet.

Personally, I can't stretch my mind far enough to even imagine ever having that much money. I grew up in blue collar world, back in the time when people didn't buy stuff until they'd saved up enough money to afford it and credit was only used for the really big things, like buying houses and cars. Making do with what you had was the norm back then, even as you worked hard at having more, someday.

When I married, I was thrilled to pieces with the little three room shotgun style house we bought for 3500.00. (that's not a typo). No young couple expected to have a really nice house till they were much older and could afford one. But to me, it was my very own mansion.

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Sunday July 03, 2011 · 1:58 PM PDT

2011/07/03 · 13:58

(Authors Note: I find aging to be one of the most challenging, confusing, and fascinating adventures in my life. I deal with it mostly via writing my way through it in private journals. It can be a pretty lonely journey, however, thus, a new group is born, Old Timers Journal. I'll kick it off with today's diary, and hope others will join in!)

If I could wave a magic wand and create a world in which I could truly enjoy the rest of my days, what would it be like?

It would be a life as far off the grid as it is possible to be.
It would be peopled only with others who also have never fit into this culture.
People of all ages and colors and abilities, gathered together around the principle of serving the common good, and planning for seven generations ahead.

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Friday July 01, 2011 · 11:37 AM PDT

2011/07/01 · 11:37

If you are a low income employed single Mom in Minnesota who relies on child care assistance in order to be able to work, it is a very bad day. It seems child care subsidies were not covered under necessary "core services", which would be protected during the government shutdown.

So what would do you do? Leave your kids home alone and go to work, so as to not lose the job you will probably not be able to replace?

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Friday June 24, 2011 · 12:02 PM PDT

2011/06/24 · 12:02

Una'a excellent diary on non violent response to bullies brought back a memory of a true event I'd like to share with you, that happened many years ago. It was one of the most powerful events I have ever witnessed and it permanently changed my life.

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Sunday May 29, 2011 · 1:17 PM PDT

2011/05/29 · 13:17

He was a quiet kid, my little brother. A loner, who preferred reading books to sports, and helping Mom cook, over more manly chores. Mostly, he tried to stay out of the way in our unhappy household. He was a tenderhearted, gentle giant of boy who only had one passion: he wanted to be a Soldier when he grew up.

He tried to enlist at the first opportunity. They turned him down due to weight and elevated blood pressure, and it nearly destroyed him for awhile. Then it motivated him, and within six months of a grueling fitness program, he passed the physical. Off to boot camp he went, happier than I'd ever seen him.

He came home on pass before shipping out to Nam, looking so tall and proud in his beloved uniform. He was finally a man, even in his fathers harsh judgment: he'd finally done his Dad proud, for the first time, after years of being ridiculed and belittled by this hard, unyielding man he loved so much, and so much wanted to emulate.

The day he left, I was hanging clothes in the back yard, my two little girls playing nearby. He spend some time with each of them, he loved them so much, and they loved him just as much. I can still see him with one riding on his back, the other in his strong arms, both little ones giggling, Jerry smiling from ear to ear.

Then he held out his arms to me, enfolding me in a great big bear hug, and in that moment, I knew. I just knew I would never see him again.

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Monday May 23, 2011 · 7:18 PM PDT

2011/05/23 · 19:18

Lately, I've been watching old movies about ordinary people forming unions to fight for their rights to be treated decently. Wilmar 8, the Salt of the Earth, powerful woman striding forth into battles, leading the way. Then there are the books I've read and movies I've seen seen about the gay rights battles, the civil rights era, and the anti war era, all of the 60's rebellion. I was alive through it all, yet completely oblivious to almost all of it.

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Monday May 16, 2011 · 8:30 PM PDT

2011/05/16 · 20:30

When I was younger, I thought it was so sad to see old folks staying home so much of the time, instead of getting out and staying engaged with the world. .

Then guess what? I got old.

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Saturday May 07, 2011 · 8:00 AM PDT

2011/05/07 · 08:00

(This is another true story about wonderful people I've encountered in my long years of working in the health care field. Names have been changed.)

I was almost out of rent money and desperate for a job I could still physically do, after a back injury made it impossible for me to continue work as an RN. I was no where ready to admit I needed to try for disability income, so I took a position as a live in House Manager for a group home with four men with Downs Syndrome. What a crew they were, and what a two year adventure it was!

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Friday April 22, 2011 · 3:40 PM PDT

2011/04/22 · 15:40

I passed my RN state boards in 1972, and went to work for a large hospital affiliated with the Mayo Clinic, on the surgical orthopedic unit. I invite you to join me on this trip back to the days when medicine was still considered the healing arts, before it all got sold out to profit making corporations. And lets say you name is Joe, and you are facing surgery to replace a worn out hip.

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Sunday April 17, 2011 · 8:38 PM PDT

2011/04/17 · 20:38

One morning she awoke and she simply knew. Right time was drawing near. She smiled, and began the slow, painful movements of getting out of her bed.

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Tuesday April 05, 2011 · 6:59 PM PDT

2011/04/05 · 18:59

It had been a very bad day and it wasn't over yet
the door could still open and he'd be there again
she counted each second till it would be time for the train
to come and take her away please please let it come in time

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Thursday March 24, 2011 · 8:35 AM PDT

2011/03/24 · 08:35

Happy Thursday, Dear Crankies! (Crankists? Crankers? Crankologists?)

Since I can't dazzle you with techie tips or anything else useful, let's just spend a minute considering "crankiness" in general. Personally, I am enjoying allowing myself to be openly cranky when I feel cranky: I figure 70 years of stifling it is damned well long enough.

I'm not nearly as cranky about DK4 as I was the first few weeks, but that's only because I know a little bit about letting go of the things that I can't change: 30 years in recovery gives one a lot of practice. I can't transform DK4 back into DK3 and I can't make anything work here that doesn't work now, and I can't stop anybody from changing something they own however they damned well feel like changing it. Dammit!

What I can do and did quite loudly was bitch and piss and moan about it all. And I will again when I need to. I figure if it helps my cranky level go down it's good for me, especially if it's mixed with some humor and ends in laughs. But if it only makes me MORE cranky, which also happens sometimes, then it's on to Plan B.

Plan B is simple: take myself the hell away from what's making me cranky! Log the hell off, if it's online stuff. Walk away from people acting like jerks. Turn off the idiots parading as TV journalists. Go for a walk. Listen to some music. Watch funny you tubes of giggling babies or cats talking to each other. Throw darts at my Sarah Palin target.

I'm still in a holding pattern with DK4, myself. I've managed to learn my way around enough to comment and do a simple diary now and then. I don't spend nearly as much time here as I did at DK3, which really isn't a bad thing: I spent way too much time here before.

But I know there's many who really do want to stay and truly are having a lot of trouble, and that makes me sad. Wish I had a magic wand that could make things better for everyone. Just know you can always drop in here, and find understanding eyeballs, ok?

Ok, your turn, it's an open thread so whatever goes. Maybe share your Plan B's for how you handle your bad cases of the crankies-that-won't-let-up?

I will be out for the afternoon, but Belinda will be dripping in..oops, dropping in to offer her considerable expertise on all things techie!

WHERE TO TURN: LINKS

☀ For more stuff sort of like this, the Cranky Users group.

☀ For lots of official detail about the site and its workings, the DK4 FAQ (frequently-asked questions). The main Daily Kos FAQ is still here.

☀ To report something not working to the dev team, the bug report form. A bug report will not be directly responded to, but will be kept on file by the development team until the issue is resolved or otherwise closed.

☀ To get immediate response for technical help or urgent site problems, the contact form (be sure to select the tech support radio button). A tech support request will get prompt response, but does not get added to the bug report database. If you use it to report a known bug, you'll be told it's a known bug, and that's it.

☀ For immediate catharsis, complain in a Cranky Users thread. These threads are regularly scanned by kos and developers, but it's not a guaranteed way to bring an issue to the attention of these folks. But sometimes you just need some sympathy from other cranky people! (And sometimes, other cranky people have advice that can help you.)

Our thanks to kos, the development team, and the Dkosopedia contributors for their vigorous efforts to deliver a site that works well and to help us know how to work it!
cranky

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Old Timer's Journal: What's "RICH?"

If I Could.....

A Bad Day For Poor Working Moms in Minnesota

Non Violent Power: a Memory

Remembering Jerry Ray

Stifled No More

A Rollator on a Leash!

My Guys

Patient Centered Primary Care: The Good Old Days

A Dignified Death

The Train

Thursday Open Thread and Thoughts on Crankiness