The Light's Are On ...

(Source)

I was amused/appalled/shocked by the recent revelation that our "esteemed" SECDEF had been away from his post for a number of days, in hospital, without the administration (his bosses) knowing. The amusing part is that the press seemed aghast that no one had informed them.

I remember the days when journalists actually went looking for the news, not let it be handed to them by the powers that be and merely expected to opine upon that which they are spoon fed.

Anyhoo, SECDEF had been diagnosed with prostate cancer, which isn't good. To be honest, if I was in the hospital with such a thing, notifying my bosses of that might not be my first priority. Prayers up for Secretary Austin's full recovery.

My big question is this, where were all his staffers while this was going on? Somebody dropped the ball. Do I think national security could have suffered because of this? Possible, but if so, our system is broken. SECDEF ain't a one deep position.

Yup, the gubmint these days, seems like the lights are on, but nobody's home.

I did return to work on Tuesday, kept my distance from my colleagues even though I'm past the contagious stage, as long as I don't expectorate on anyone. It was a bit of a miserable day, stuffed up, the occasional hacking attack as my lungs sought liberation from my chest cavity.

There were some who were worried, thinking perhaps that I should be wearing a mask or something. One guy actually said, "You should have stayed home." I told him I would if he'd give me his paycheck. Yeah, that didn't happen.

My problem is, I don't trust the general medical professionals anymore. The specialists and the like, I still trust them. Their take always seems to be, "here's what we need to do to fix that," as opposed to, "well, let's get some blood tests and I'll set you up with a specialist depending on what those tests indicate." My PCP (Primary Care Physician) is a health manager, every visit is her looking at her lap top after a perfunctory BP and a stare into the old ENT. Oh, and I get to breathe while she listens. She stares at the laptop (looking at my "chart" I presume) while asking me questions about my general health. (I always want to ask the purpose of my filling out a form in the waiting room which answered every last damn one of those questions.)

Okay, she covers the basics pretty well, it's just that I don't feel "doctored," I feel managed. Waiting a day or so for an appointment, then sitting in at least two waiting rooms before being seen¹ can cost some serious time out of work. And my doctor's office used to be near where I live, now it's a good 30 minutes away in a big "run by doctors" corporate sort of place. Does the paperwork flow smoother? I'm sure it does, and I really don't care. It's a big chunk out of my day.

Let me climb down off that soapbox for now. Work on Tuesday wasn't fun, but it was productive.

Oh, a quick word before I go. When I tell you stories, I'm not seeking advice, it appears that some of you think that I am. I most assuredly am not. Have an anecdote to share? Share away, but if I say, "Hey, lucky me, I fell off a ladder yesterday." Don't come back with, "Well, I always grip the ladder with two hands and I have a spotter ..." Okay, I get it. If I do something dumb it's not because I didn't know what I was doing, just cutting corners, M'kay? It's just one of those TTTTRAM.²

Okay, I think that's enough for today. I'm really too darned tired and ornery to be nice.

Maybe it would be better if someone kept a flamethrower handy when I'm in such moods ...

Gomen nasai. (ごめんなさい )

¹ Had that process take two hours once, I told the doctor I didn't expect to be billed for that visit, wasn't my PCP but that Doc looked a little panicked at that suggestion.

² My family and co-workers tell me that I'm too easily annoyed. Guilty as charged. And I am really, really cranky this week. So it ain't you, it's me. Oh, and that acronym is on the acronym page.