Character Flaw?

I need to rant, that is what most of this post is going to be. You have been warned.

About a decade ago, maybe a little less, I made a decision. I decided that I was going to be the best at what I did, no matter what it was. It didn't matter if it was work or play. I was simply going to be the best. The plan worked. I became enormously successful working at several large truck dealerships in SoCal. I did alignment and suspension work, and because of it, was known and respected across the country. I was making a small fortune, and was at the top of my game. Than I decided that I wanted to play cop. That worked too, graduated fifth in my Academy class before deciding that I liked my wife alot more than I liked the badge. To save my marriage a change was in order, and in typical Sigboy fashion it was big. We sold the house and moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I took a job as a Night foreman at another truck dealership. They had problems with their crew and needed to turn it around. Turn it around I did, bringing productivity up from 60% to just over 85%. No small feat considering what I had to work with. After I was done with that, they decided that they no longer needed my (expensive) services, so something new was again in order. That turned out to be tankers, fuel and propane tankers to be exact. It's fun, I got to keep things from blowing up going down the road.

So why am I telling you all this? The short version of my truck industry career? To set the stage for the next scene of course.

While in South Dakota, Mrs. Sigboy fell ill with a mysterious illness that manifested itself as severe allergies to, well, everything. Doctors could not figure it out, and I was given the options, move her out of here or watch her die. Seeing as how I liked my wife alot more than I liked South Dakota, it was time to move across the country, again. So we gave the house away, and the company I work for was kind enough to give me a promotion and a transfer to Texas.

I was promised the moon when they sent me down here, they wanted badly for me to take it. I was smart enough to know that there was no way it could all be true. But if half of it was true, I would be in a good place. I needed to start over anyways, and with the economy in the position it's in, it was a good plan to keep my job.

Almost a year and a half later, things have settled in at this shop. I have things as organized as they are going to get. It's a pretty good deal, my job is to keep about 13 trucks rolling thru Texas and Oklahoma, Five of them are stationed here with me and the rest are scattered about. I am very good at what I do and the drivers all know that they can count on me to do the right thing and keep them rolling, and it's really nice to have your boss 300 miles away. Both upper management and the drivers tell me that I am the best thing that ever happened to this yard. But it's not enough. I'm not happy. I'm not allowed to excel at what I do. I am to maintain the status quo, no more no less. any deviation off this line results in an immediate smackdown. If my shop is more productive than my boss's shop, I get a lecture, not productive enough, a different lecture. I suppose that what bothers me the most is that I do not feel that I am productive as I can be in this position, and nobody else seems to think I'm doing anything wrong. I have a cushy job, I do what I want, when I want. But I don't feel that it is enough. I can work at this job until I retire, collect my pension and do rather well for myself. But will I be satisfied? Is job satisfaction more important than job security? Is it a simple issue of changing my own standards of success? Perhaps I need to seek my satisfaction elsewhere. I don't know what the right answer is, I only know that something has to change soon, or I'm going to get myself in trouble, and I'm probably going to enjoy it in the process.
edit: I may have found the solution, thanks to Paule Kersey.

California Places Increased Burden on SubjectsCitizens

I have just heard that on November first, California increases it's income tax with holding by 10%. The LA Times reports. Please note that this is not a tax increase, just a forced loan to the state. And it is only a 10% increase on the taxable amount. So roughly the same amount as your cable bill. John Marshall said that "The power to tax is the power to destroy." Many people are already plagued by wage cuts and other employer cut backs that put more burden onto the employees. The state of California has decided that they will not roll back all the expensive programs that they have enacted over the years. They will take more money from the people to cover their shortfall. 1.7 BILLION dollars in an interest free loan strong armed from already strapped California citizens. "The power to tax is the power to destroy." How many will be destroyed so that California can maintain their socialist policies?

Isn't it ironic, don't you think?

I Should Have Hit Her, Part 2

As many of you know, I wiped out my elbow almost two months ago. Last Friday I took the ACE bandage off and have been functioning almost normally. It had been fairly unnerving there for a while, the swelling would go down, and than come back. I was starting to get worried, I cut out all but the minimum physical activity. I surely did not want to have to have surgery. I was speaking to a Doctor friend of mine and he asked me a few questions about my healing process. I told him how it was progressing and here is his exact quote: "You went off your meds didn't you?" Now anybody that knows me very well knows that I have an aversion to drugs. Not just the illegal stuff, that's another long drawn out story. I don't go running for the Tylenol when I have a headache, I don't go diving for the Motrin when my back hurts, frankly, I would rather suffer through the pain and allow my body to heal itself. I told Doctor friend that he was right, I wasn't on anything. He proceeds to lecture me how the body wasn't going to get rid of that swelling without drugs. Being a Doctor, he tells me 800mg Motrin, 3 times a day and I would be better in two weeks.

So I'm mostly better now and I decide that I need to start being active again. A few days ago I stretched and did about an hour of calisthenics, not bad, started loosening up. Last night I picked up some free weights. Wow, I knew that I was loosing muscle mass off my arms, after all I wasn't using them, but I am definitely weak. So looks like I am back on a workout routine and going to drop all that weight that these sedentary months have put on me. Maybe I can get motivated and drop that extra ten as well.......


And next time, I`m just gonna hit her.

Clinic Update

You remember that clinic where I received shoddy treatment last week? Today was Mrs. Sigboy's turn. She had another allergic reaction at work and had to go visit the clinic. How did she get treated? Poorly, so poorly that I even got an eye roll out of the nurse for pointing out her incompetence. As for the Doctor, I'm getting tired of the attitude when you question the doctor. On the bright side, I am getting over my fear of telling doctors that they are wrong.

I will have full background on this story tomorrow.
/rant

I should have hit her...

Not hitting my wife led me to the Doctors office. Not hitting my wife put my right arm out of commission for several weeks. Not hitting my wife led to my worst doctor visit ever.

Maybe a little background is in order. Last week we were working in the laundry room. Of course, we had plenty of company, the dog and a small child were underfoot. I swung around unexpectedly and found my elbow about to contact my charming wife's head. A decision was made in a split second that would lead to my downfall. I chose to avoid hitting my wife and I hit the corner of the wall instead. Several days went by and all was well, no pain, no swelling, only a slight bit of discomfort.

Tuesday morning was when it all changed. I woke up to a swollen and inflamed elbow, it was warm to the touch and very tender. I immediately started heating it and starting taking Motrin to keep the swelling down. The week went by with only slight improvement. Friday came along, no swelling, but still tender and it felt that there was a bunch of fluid around the joint. I begrudgingly went to the clinic. After reviewing the dates nobody seemed very impressed with my delay, or my self diagnosis (which was correct by the way). Obviously, the first thing the Doctor ordered was x-rays. My first question was "Why?". I have decided that since I pay for it, I have the right to ask all the questions I want, and to deny tests if the Doctor cannot explain to me why they are neccesary. Little did I realize that this would change the tone for the rest of the visit. She was offended that I even questioned her judgement. She told me that she wanted to check for a break. I told her it wasn't broke. She said I couldn't possibly be smart enough to know that. Well, at least she insinuated it.

When in the room, her body language told me that she didn't want to be there. Her tone confirmed it. There she was, about my age, reasonably unattractive, hair pulled back in a simple pony tail. Her makeup was splotchily applied, foundation poorly covered by powder. I made no judgement, unfortunately,I was the only person in the room with such courtesy. She judged me based upon what I was wearing, my uniform for work. Black pleated pants, and a button down grey shirt, complete with name tags and an ISO 9000 cert patch. I also like to call it suburban camouflage. You don't know who I am, what I have done or even what I do. You are payed to provide a service to me. I expect courtesy to come along with the deal. I do not expect attitude because I dared question your judgement.

The xrays came back and confirmed all of our suspicions, the fluid in the joint was inflamed and causing the discomfort. She offered to drain it, but said that it would probably refill later. She also told me that the xrays showed no sign of gout or any other diseases.

So here is my point. I will not be accepting her services again. Why? Because I payed for a service and was not impressed. What was she looking for in the x-ray? Gout. I did not pay for xrays for her to mislead me so that she could check for gout. She didn't tell me that in the beginning, I would have said no and she wouldn't have gotten the up sale. Luckily, I pay for my own health care and nobody can tell me who I can see and who I can't. I will not be needing her services in the future. Thankfully I live in a Country where I am not told which doctor I have to see and when.

Next time, I'm just going to hit her.

Parental Gun Control

Todays popular blog content is toy guns and children. Do they mix? Do real firearms and toy guns mix? Marko started this, Jay G followed, and now I am jumping on the bandwagon. Marko wants to know whether toy guns are acceptable for children.

I left this comment:
I was raised without any toy guns in the house. My fathers logic was that I can have a toy gun when I was old enough to know the difference. When I was old enough, I had real guns, so what did I need a toy gun for?
I was always allowed to ‘make’ toy guns, that was over looked. I even made my own rubber band guns around ten. Amazingly, I was allowed to have rubber band wars as long as I used the proper safety equipment.
I am a grown man now, with children of my own, my son just turned six, and is not allowed to have toy guns, imaginary guns and squirt guns are overlooked. Both my children know the four rules, and know not to touch a firearm without supervision. They shoulder rifles, dry fire pistols, and practice getting a proper sight picture.
Lately I have been considering changing the rules to allow toy guns under the presumption that they are just toys, I also don’t know how far to take it.

The wife and I have discussed this before and I have been pondering it lately. My current feelings on the subject is this:
1. Boys have an ingrained desire to defend home and hearth. This desire is expressed in the games that they play, fighting monsters and saving princesses.
2. Boys will make toy guns out of anything and everything. I encourage my children to use their imagination while playing, would a toy gun help that?
3. If toy guns are allowed, should the safety rules be used like a real firearm?
4. If toy guns are allowed, how do squirt guns, airsoft and paintball fit into the mix?
5. Speaking of airsoft, I occasionally practice my self defense tactics with airsoft guns, and shoot other people. Does this make me a hypocrite for playing with fake guns and shooting people? Or am I exempt because I am supposed to know the difference?

Marko wrote this far more eloquently than I. I encourage you to go visit, remember to check his comments. They contain many valid thoughts and opinions.

Question of the day

I have a question, at what point in medical school do they install doctors with a attitude problem? When do they tell them if they can't fix the problem in six minutes, they can just send them to somebody else? When are they instilled with the god given right to order tests with no regard to the cost, and then wait for weeks to read the results? What gives them the right to say, "Don't worry, we just haven't found the right medication for you yet." I can translate that for you, come back if that doesn't work and I can charge you again.
What ever happened to the doctors you see on TV? The ones who care about solving a problem and are willing to do whatever it takes? Do they exist in real life? I am honestly losing confidence in the medical community.