Atlanta - the gleaming sphincter of the American Southeast. Two days of driving, punctuated by an hour or so lost in the slowdown due to a wreck south of Atlanta on a Sunday afternoon. Just like air travel around the country, a slowdown in Atlanta can ruin travel plans anywhere. If you were looking for exactly where to administer an enema to the US, Atlanta is in the final four...
But after a trying 9 hours driving, a good barbecue dinner with a friend I've known since the late '70s. Friends and clothes are two things in life that are always best the longer you've had them. A night in surprisingly nice room in Woodstock, GA, then another 9 hours on the road Monday and into town. Last time I took a cross country drive, I used XM radio; this time it was I Heart Radio on an iPhone plugged into the car's audio system. Virtually the same availability; a few times in the trip, the XM signal was blocked out by a hill or dense trees; likewise, a few times the cellphone internet was wiped out by trees, but I think if you mapped out coverage, it's pretty much 99.9% availability. Pretty darned impressive for a "wireless" infrastructure put in place by greedy corporations without government running everything.
As for the content on the radio, it's not quite "All Trayvon Martin, All The Time", but it's more like that than not.
Meanwhile, Borepatch links to an interesting piece on Aretae about why liberals are so puzzled and irritated by the public consensus against government health care. Perhaps the most interesting part of that is in the comments, where an anonymous commenter with admitted health problems talks about wanting the freedom to not worry about getting health care - as if there's any reason to think the government isn't going to deny care if you're deemed too expensive. Aretae promises more to come on this topic, so I'll be watching.
The fellow with diabetes who made comments claiming that universal health care works in other countries should be encouraged to move there. Perhaps Cuba, since he probably believes the Michael Moore fantasy film showing how Cuba's medical system is so superior to ours.
ReplyDeleteI have a young friend, a co-worker at the VA hospital I used to work for before I retired, who is also an RN. Because of his past history of being unable to afford to pay for his own health care, and his mother's issues with diabetes, he believes it is acceptable to force others to pay for his coverage. (This is actually an assumption on my part, because when I ask him if it is acceptable, he gets angry and refuses to discuss it any further. I'd say it might be a safe assumption ;-)
I was able to smooth his transition from a person with no interest in guns to one who actually likes guns and puts out the effort to train and improve his skills. I think this was aided by his understanding that, living with his mother (supporting her), and having had no male role model as he grew up, he had become at risk for bullying and such. He realized that guns could be used for defense - he is not your "Goth", "let's kill all the bullies" type, rather a very compassionate and caring human being - and took to them like a duck to water, once I took him out and introduced him to the concept.
However, he remains resistant to most conservative principles. His mother is far Left, and I think much of his world view is a consequence of that, although she now approves of firearms for defense, and as even gone shooting with us a few times. (She now "owns" one of his snubbie revolvers for her own protection.) I have tried to patiently and gently lead him into the light, but he resisted to the point that he asked me to refrain from discussing anything political. I chose to honor his request, in the hopes that perhaps he might acquire some conservative thought through osmosis :-) He really is a good young man, just damaged by too long an association with his Lefty mother.
The ATL had crossed the traffic event horizon already by the time I left in '00. I coped by living in town and working in the 'burbs, thus commuting counter to the flow of traffic.
ReplyDeleteI miss the city, but I sure don't miss the traffic.
Let me know if you're ever back in the area. I never go into town at all, but really like living in the burbs.
ReplyDeleteBorepatch,
DeleteThe years I spent living la vie boheme practically on the corner of St. Charles and North Highland were some of the best times of my life.
When my roommate decided we needed to ditch the bitty, ancient 1-bedroom for a modern, amenity-filled garden apartment in an anonymous newer complex out by where Clairmont crosses 85, I was wrecked.
"I'd rather sleep on a futon in the living room of a 1-br in VaHi then have my own bedroom in Gwinnett," were my exact words, I believe. ;)