Saturday, June 27, 2009
Time flies like an arrow, but fruit flies like bananas....
Been quite a while since I've been here. Not my idea, for whatever that's worth. On May 3, I took a fall and spent a month in a local hospital and "skilled nursing facility" (AKA nursing home). It's only in the last few days I've been able to decently type using both hands (my shoulder and one leg have some new hardware in them), as well as walk around without a wheelchair. So, that's what I've been doing.
We have also moved during this same period. Beth did the moving—she made me stay in the nursing home an extra three days so I'd be out of the way during the actual move. She's smart, although at the time I felt blue about the idea...but now I'm glad I missed the chaos of the move. We're in a lovely house in a cheery neighborhood. It's like living on the fringes of a nice urban park. No upstairs neighbors. No neighbors just through through the wall. No parking lot outside our windows, either. Trees, lawns, squirrels, finches, even a rockchuck family that shows up across the street every so often. A nice deck out back, a garage, all kinds of storage, and we are living here. Quiet. Far out!
Of course, nothing has gone to hell in a hand-basket while I've been laid up—except for my serenity, a few dozen times. The war continues, even as the location changes. The great upholder of "traditional American values" keeps getting caught with its pants down. The best thing appears to be this: we're heading toward some sort of national health care insurance. The stock market is creeping upward; there are more jobs advertised in our local paper than there were six months ago. These are good signs.
Oregon had the 2nd highest unemployment rate in the country. Deschutes County, where I live, has an official unemployment rate of about 18%. Crook County, next door, has one of five out of work. Speed freaks—cranksters—meth addicts continue to steal their ways into jail. The next school district to the north will go to a four-day week next year because of budget shortages. These are not good signs.
Yes, the situation is mixed: some good, some bad. Gee, just like life, eh? As long as I can remember the situation has been mixed. That's the way it is. We're still a long way from Paradise.
