March 30, 2010 - Waking up...

I saw on the internet the other day where a congressman stated that if the mandate to purchase health insurance was not deemed unconstitutional by the courts, that the government would then have free reign to "mandate", order, whatever, us to purchase things we may or may not want, such as an energy saving vehicle from G(overnment) M(otors), and if we didn't do that by a certain time, they would penalize us for disobeying them.

For some reason, people don't believe they would actually do this. Then, I ask, why are they doing it now? It was passed under the guise of Health Care Reform. Now people say we have socialized medicine. No, we don't. What we have is the first step to allow government to control our lives in detail. If they can force you to do this, they can force you to do anything.

Universal Healthcare is not mandating everyone to buy health insurance. Universal Healthcare is where anyone, anyone at all, can walk into a doctors office, hospital, doc-in-a-box, wherever, and receive healthcare. It is paid for by everyone who pays taxes through the government. The government pays the doctors and nurses salaries, they don't mandate that the doctors must see people and then receive only a fraction of the cost to do so, which allows the doctors to say "we're not going to see anymore of these people."

Universal Healthcare does no allow Pharmaceutical companies to continue to gouge customers in this country while selling the same drugs to foreign customers for a fraction of what we have to pay.

No, we do not have Universal Healthcare, and we are not heading in that direction. We have government control disguised as Healthcare, and it's just the first step.

Another congressman was asked why it took four years before it took total effect. His response? Because it will take that long to create the administration necessary TO CONTROL THE PEOPLE!

Wake up, America... or we're going down for the count.

March 15, 2010

Last week we had to clean out my mother's apartment. Even though I did not have what anyone would call a relationship with her for the last several years, when she broke her hip and was operated one, the doctors informed me she would be going from rehab into a nursing home. Since there was no one else available to do it, there were certain things that had to be completed.

The fact that she had never agreed to establish a Power of Attorney for such a time as this, I stall had to do a lot of these things. The main one was finding out what was needed for her to break her lease, and then how we would go about cleaning out her apartment within a short time frame.

Being the cautious one, I tried to find out what kind of authority I had to dispose of her things. The response I received from a social worker was that no one had ever asked before, they just did it, to hire a lawyer and find out. Well, I do not have the income to hire anything or anyone, let alone a lawyer, and pay money I do not have in order to do something I really didn't want to do to begin with.

So, I just decided to do it.

The first step - have the grandsons stop by and see if there was anything they might like to have that would remind them of their grandmother when she was a tad bit more human than she had been in the last so many years.

One son lives in Maine, so he couldn't come down, so we selected several things we thought he might enjoy having and will take them to Maine with us when we go in May.

The other two came by and looked everything over. One selected a few things, the other said they had no room, but when we went through photos she had to let him see those.

During her life, mother never threw anything away in the way of clothes. My wife went through all those, selecting certain ones we would take to mother in the nursing home. One that were worn beyond their live span were tossed, and the rest went to Goodwill.

She was a photographer of sorts, had won some prizes in shows she entered, and had about 20 framed photos. Several family members took several, and we took the bulk to the nursing home, telling them if she did not want them to feel free to hang them around the home. I just did not want them trashed as they were all excellent, and beautiful photographs.

Mother was also a meticulous record keeper in her aware days. This mean I had to go through every single one of her files to determine if it needed to be kept, or could be tossed out. While going through them, I discovered photos of my father that were in excess of 100 years old, and several pictures of my mother and sister that had been buried in strange places. Had I just tossed it all out, I would have not found the pictures.

As for her furniture, it was all very well used, and so decided to call the Salvation Army. They came by and took what they wanted, most of it good, and usable. That way, someone who was not as fortunate could put these things to good use.

The thing that bothered me the most was the fact that even though mother was unable to care for herself, or make decisions in her current mental state, I still felt like I was taking apart her life, and scattering it into the winds to be blown who knows where.

It was then it struck me how pointless life was unless we could do, and did do, what we really wanted to do with it. Realizing that makes me wonder what the purpose of life is for the majority of people, myself included. History will remember the royalty, the politicians, the inventors of useful things, the scientists that created wonderful medicines, etc., etc.. But for the rest of us, no one will know, no one will care, that we were ever here.

Perhaps her photos will live somewhere for a long time, and people will wonder who she was and what was the reason she took that particular picture? One can hope, anyway.

But for most of us, with the exception of our immediate families who will remember us for a few years, the world is too big and busy to remember we were here...

So, if not for doing what we want to do, what is the point of life? And no, I'm not interested in some religious thing about trying to get to heaven... I don't believe in heaven and hell...

March 5, 2010 - The beginning of the end...

My wife lost two of her aunts this week. One, named Lula, was one hundred and three, and 6 months old. The other, Frieda, was 96 years old. We are glad that we took the time to go to the family reunions and as a result, were able to get to know both of them. Lula's philosophy was the one I hope to live by, even just starting at my age. It was simple, and powerful - If you have a problem in lfe, deal with it, and move on. During her lifetime, she buried one husband and three children. She lived alone on her farm until the age of 101.

I am in the process of cleaning out my mother's apartment. It is not a task that I find enjoyable, but there is no one else to do it. So I am, with help from my wife.

Mother broke her hip, had surgery, and is currently in rehab. From there, she will go right into a nursing home. The fact she is still alive while I go about disposing of her past life is disconcerting. I feel as if I am stealing things, and destroying those things I cannot keep with me, or pass out to the family. It would be easier, I suppose, if she had passed away. Perhaps then I would not feel like I am intruding on her or her space.

Also, a word of advice to all. Make sure your children have the following documents available to them for when they need them. The documents are - A will, a Living Will, and a Power of Attorney document. If these are not available, it makes trying to do what is necessary a real nightmare.

February 19, 2010 - Interesting discovery...

While not revealing the reason behind this comment, I will say that I have found out first hand that if you do not have the financial means to 'play the game' that requires hiring a lawyer, in certain areas of life, one has no legal rights...

The following is in no way connected to the previous comment -

In the state of Virginia, the laws on the books governing housing subdivisions and their respective "Homeowner's Associations" (I only found one) gives the homeowner zero rights in redressing grievances from a legal standpoint.

The subdivision I reside in has 176 houses. The HO Association collects over $14,000 a year from the owners for association fees. I often wondered why. Where did the money go? We have no sidewalks; we have no pool; we have no playground. What was this money used for?

I set out trying to discover, and to alert the 'community', I forced a meeting of the association board, and the homeowners. It was during this meeting I found out the true meaning of 'community'. It means no one gives a damn!

Out of 176 houses where I personally stuffed a flyer about the meeting, which I had printed at my own expense, there was a whopping six people that showed up! Six - out of 176!

What I also learned was that when they board hired an auditor to review the books, he gave up because they were so messed up he couldn't make any sense of them. When the audit was conducted the association had been collecting HO fees for over ten years, amounting to over $140,000. No one knew where that money went. No one.

All I can say is someone had some fun somewhere at our expense, but as I said above, only six people cared.

And that folks, is why the national government can walk all over the Constitution and our rights. No one cares anymore. We are quietly being funneled into a pool of human robots, blatantly being used to cement to power of the rich, and to give them the ultimate decisions as to who lives, and who doesn't.

February 18, 2010 - Moving to a new project

As of tomorrow, I will have yet another blog where I will write about memories of my life that will offer, I hope, a bit of levity from time to time to the lives of readers. The new blog will be

RobertGodfrey.blogspot.com

I haven't decided what the first entry will be about, but will by the time I actually write in it. I will also attempt to add photos of things and places that I found along the way. Who knows, maybe someone will actually read it and become a "follower".

I will continue to enter on this blog as well, but I will keep all the perhaps not-so-interesting stuff on this blog. I have in the past entered opinion on this as well as other things, and will continue to do so. That way, insomniacs can browse this on occasion to assist them in getting sleepy and passing out over their keyboard. I do, however, regret to say that I am in now way responsible for you waking with a keyboard face...

February 17, 2010 - Thoughts of nothing in particular...

As I slowly, actually, much too quickly, move towards going from an elderly person to an old person, I find myself perusing the obituaries, not so much to see if anyone I knew was there, but to take a pulse of 'the dying generation'. By that I mean I take a rough total of all those persons passing away who were younger than I am versus the number of persons older than I am passing away. As time goes by, there are more younger and fewer older, meaning I am reaching that point where the odds I may soon appear in one of those announcements increases.

I love to read about those whose ages far exceed mine, thinking of all they had seen during their lives, all the history that took place while they could view it. I hope someday to be one of those 'really old' people. I have a ways to go before that happens, and I pray if I am allowed the time, I am aware of it all, right up to the last.

The weather seems to be heading towards spring here in Richmond. The temperatures are beginning to moderate, and there is more rain than snow being forecast for the foreseeable future. While it wouldn't bother me to have another round of a big snow, if it doesn't happen, I can't say I will regret it. I am just now beginning to feel normal with my shoulders not aching all the time from shoveling snow, again and again.

Reading update: Only 25 pages to go in Don Quixote! I have read 866 pages! In small print. no less.

I haven't watched as much of the Olympics as I initially thought I would. For some reason, sitting around watching someone else do something when I could be doing something does not appeal to me. There are too many things I want to do, and am reaching the point where I would rather not even have a TV. Maybe someday soon, there will be one in the trash, and it will be mine! Anymore, most of the time spent is spent watching commercials for medicines I never intend on taking.

Saw an article in the paper where an 84 year old man jumped from a ferry somewhere around Norfolk, and drowned, or died from the action. I would like to know why he did that, but never will. It many ways, I can sympathize with someone that age choosing to end his time on earth, perhaps knowing he would soon end up sitting all alone and staring at the wall for the remainder of his existence, never knowing where he was, or caring. Life really is beautiful; no longer knowing that must be hell on earth.

I am just chock full of happy thoughts today! On the bright side, so to speak, we went to Can Can for a bit of breakfast, having an apricot muffin and an almond croissant. I saw a young lady there who was there the last time we did this, and as she was the last time, was reading a book. I tried to see what she was reading, but to no avail.

There is more interest being shown in Ginny's paintings right now, and we're hoping that will translate into some sales. I put another one of mine out at a store that had sold one of them last December. Wouldn't mind selling it, but we'll see. Still have not painted in a while. Too involved with my writing, that makes nothing $ wise. Why do I keep it up? I have no idea other than because the hope is always there that someday someone will read something I wrote and think it good enough to publish. It's been a long dry spell...

February 11, 2010 - Bits and pieces...

It's been a few days since I last updated the blog, so here goes...

Not much to report. Did go see "Dear John". Personally, I liked it. However, I was the only guy there. The other 50 or so people were all women... at least, they looked like women. Didn't matter to me.

I am approaching page 800 in Don Quixote! Almost finished. Next will be "The Count of Monte Christo" (Spelling? - I'll check on it and correct if necessary)

I have been very busy attempting to move my mother from the hospital bed she now occupies into a rehab facility, which will be followed by a move to a nursing home. It has not been an easy task. I do not have contact with her for many varied reasons, and as a result, being her only living child, there are certain things that I have to do that would have been easier if she had allowed us to set everything up before she reached the stage she has with dementia.

As a result, I now have to attempt to clean out her apartment after I find out what legal authority I have to do it, if any, and it has to be completed by early March. We have gone over and emptied out the refrigerator so that the food would not spoil, and then took all the canned goods that had not passed their expiration dates to the Foodbank. While at it, my wife cleaned up the kitchen in order not to draw any undesired critters.

But, that's as far as we can go until I can get some clarification from someone on how much leeway do I have to clean it out... If I had Power of Attorney, there would not be a problem. In order to get that, it can take quite a bit of time, and I do not have it.

Warning to all parents who have any respect for their children and grandchildren... set all this up before it becomes necessary! We are going to find a lawyer to handle these things and have all this drawn up, and copies passed out to all our children in the very near future. They should not be punished because their parents were too lazy to have this completed. And believe me, it is punishment!