Neanderpundit

Spent a couple hours last night reading “Marley and Me”. Before losing consciousness, that is. Got about halfway through, should finish the balance at lunchtime.

Anyway, the idea of a dog named after Bob Marley must have gotten to me, because I dreampt all got-damned night.

I dreampt I was an entrepreneur who opened the very first McDonalds in Jamaica. I got some tourist trade, and that was IT. I was about to go under, and Bob Marley walked in. There was a field of jamaican stupidweed growing behind the building, so I started handing out rolling papers, Bob Marley sang in the parking lot, and everyone got high. Business boomed. I couldn’t keep hamburger in the place. Forget fries. By the end of the second week I was having to have the national guard airlift potatos in.

The upshot is, I have this jammed in my head. I’ll be humming it during mass. And I feel like I worked all night long and need to go back to bed.

yeah, I watched the season opener, even watched the Christmas “catch up” episode- (loved the midget comments) and while I have little interest in addicts, my bulging belly reminds me I have my own addictions.

So it was with some amusement that I saw the treatment of Dr House, and some enjoyment that I saw the vindictive cop Tritter smacked down by the judge.

I mentioned this to my friend Dr Bob over beers thursday night, and he said “I can’t watch that show. No doctor could be that much of an ass and continue to practice”.

I sat, openmouthed, stunned.

My old friend and confidant Mlle Jenny, a medical transcriptionist who deals with doctors every day, said “that’s the funniest thing I ever heard in my life” I can’t but agree. The entire medical profession thinks so much of itself they can’t stand it when someone points the eyepiece of reality at them, and I am reminded of this by M Alger and M Du Toit.

Face it, folks. As a group? doctors are overpaid scum. Their minions are self important boors. One in a hundred is worth the powder it would take to blow themself up with. Demonstrably, the US medical system is one of the lower rated in the world, at least in part because of it’s snake-oil propensities and it’s insurance-fraud subculture.

I don’t trust them, never will, and I doubt I’ll begin soon

I don’t usually ask for cash, and frankly, I wouldn’t EVER do so for myself, but I think this is an opportunity for me to get something done and for you all to do something good for someone.

Let me splain myself, Loocy.

I have, in my driveway, a Lumina minivan. This van has seen better days. It belongs to a welfare mom, who is in the process of trying to get her LPN so she can make a decent living for her and her 8 kids. She has worked to the extent that she’s capable, but the van died last fall and she has been walking and otherwise toting her youngsters around.

Anyway, I’ve got a little work to do to get the van running, and so far it’s been OK. It didn’t run at all when I had it towed here, and at first I feared I’d taken on a hopeless cause- but I bought the Haynes manual for it, and looked at the firing order. The firing order is SUPPOSED to be 1,3,5,2,4,6. Instead, the plugs were wired in this order: 1,”b”, tree, aardvark, pencil, 9. Wires were going to places I never expected wires could go. Anyway, I hooked the wires up properly and it now runs as smooth and quietly as a well oiled machine. And pours coolant everywhere but it’s intended locations. Yeah, another leak. Which I intend to have repaired tomorrow.

I will also be looking at CV boots, tie rod ends, lower ball joints, tires. Make sure it all comes together.

I’m paying for this, or getting help from my local auto parts store paying for it. What is needed is current license plates and insurance. I hope she can get insurance for $200 for the first six months and plates for another $50. I’m going to have her check, and if she comes up with a reasonable figure, take up a collection. Then someone will take her to the insurance store and make sure she gets the insurance, same plates, etc.

Why am I doing this for a welfare mother of 8? Maybe I’m a sucker for a hard luck story. Could be that I’m just stupid. Maybe it’s because I admire her for trying to educate and work herself out of poverty, and I see an easy way I can give her a leg up. Email me at mhardig at aol dot com to let me know if you are interested in helping, and when the time comes I’ll email you and let you know.

Thanks again for everything.

Update: turns out the van has greater problems than I feared. Thanks for your consideration, but won’t be anything we can do, unfortunately.