In Search of...an answer to the vaccination dilemma

So it's been weeks since I've blogged, and here I sit, where I've sat for days - on the couch and sick, pondering the topics of the day. Oh heck, let's talk about healthcare - a great topic to broach when you've been laid up for a week feeling like death.

My bout with whatever it is I have was preceded by both a flu and pneumonia vaccine , and while I can't say definitively if they played any role in my current state of unwellness, or if it was the fact that I flew a couple of days after receiving them and just happened to pick something up, I am inclined not to believe in coincidences - especially ones timed so judiciously. Plus, since I can't remember being this sick for this length of time ever before in my life, I can't help but think that I was aided in this accomplishment - perhaps by injecting questionable supposedly dead viruses directly into my arms .


So if you're out there being tempted to succumb to the media and government instilled hype about the potential deadly ramifications of not getting vaccinated, I'd suggest you think again. Ask yourself who profits. I'll tell you who - the drug companies. And you know what else? They lobby politicians with large sums of money. And the media? They want ratings and nothing gets ratings like a pandemic.

So I say to anyone reading this - eat extra fruits and veggies, get plenty of rest, exercise regularly and then take your chances. That's solely my opinion. Me, a regular gal who's not a medical professional, but has made the mistake of seeing one.


Now back to our regularly scheduled discussion of healthcare reform. It always makes me nervous when congress seems pleased with itself. While I don't doubt that they are working feverishly to pass some sort of healthcare reform, I do doubt that our best interests are their first priority. I doubt that they will be able to control let alone enforce legislation forcing insurance companies to cut or cap premiums. or denying coverage for pre-existing conditions. It sounds nice, but if they raise premiums, then I join the uninsured. Good thing they'll see to it that there's a viable public option. Oh wait, we still don't know that for certain, do we?


I would like to believe that creating a system that sees to the welfare of all its citizens equally would be the top concern of the representatives we elected to safeguard the constitution of our great country. However, I would also like to believe that Santa comes down my chimney and that some day I will be a size six again. So to ensure a greater likelihood of the former, I'd say we should continue making it clear to our representatives, particularly the democrats, that they will not get re-elected by us if they do not pass something that legitimately reigns in the insurance companies and gives all of us coverage. Call it socialism, call it democracy, call it whatever you want, just get it done.


Time for more tea and Oprah.

Thanks for stopping by...and stay well.

In Search of...a place to stay when the band is too drunk to drive home

So those of you who know me know that me saying, "I have a band camping at my apartment," is an unlikely statement to be coming from my lips. I like my privacy. I like cleanliness. And I like quiet. Having a band staying with you will get you none of these. In fact, it will get you quite the opposite.

Like the movie Almost Famous, you might also imagine that a) it's only rock stars who get wasted and have women throwing themselves at the band members, b) all bands have buses and can afford hotels, and c) that this stuff only happens in the movies or is limited to the Rolling Stones. You would be wrong about all three. And that's how I wound up with a band staying at my apartment last night.

It started off simply enough. They were broke and would sleep in their car if they had to in order to get to a gig or a writing session in Nashville. I had a perfectly good floor and couch and found the idea of them sleeping in a car and not showering rather distasteful. They seemed like sweet considerate boys, so why not?

The plan was for them to drive home after their big gig and for the four of them to share a hotel room on the way. The way it turned out was that two of them left and headed back, the third was too drunk to drive and the fourth was ready to go home with a girl he'd just met at the bar that night. It was also raining. What to do, what to do?

For starters, we couldn't let the drunk one drive. That had catastrophe written all over it. As for the going home with stray girls, while it isn't any of my business, are we really sure that it's any safer for guys to do that than girls? Couldn't a girl just as easily be a psycho serial killer as a guy? So in the interest of preventing STD's, DUI's, and possible death, the guys headed back to my place where they could be assured a warm dry place to sleep and a toilet for the drunk one to throw up in...which by all accounts he did.

As I offered them Ibuprofen and Frosted Flakes to start their day off right this morning, they only accepted the former and sheepishly scurried off as fast as their bleary eyes would allow them to get in their car and go. For some reason this amused me.

Now my apartment is blissfully quiet and in need of a good cleaning which is what I will be doing today as I ponder this odd culture that is part of the lifestyle of every band, both known and unknown.

When they get very famous, I might tell you their name. Maybe I'll even be a footnote in their journey. For now I'm happy to have saved them from themselves for a night. My work is done.

Thanks for stopping by...and don't drink and drive.