Total Ankle Replacement Surgery Next Week

In 1980, the summer after my first semester at GCC, I dislocated my ankle. How you ask? Some of you may know.. I was training to be a server at 'The Iron Bridge'. I was in the small kitchen area picking up 2 mugs of coffee for my table. While I was doing this, a beer delivery guy had entered and opened the trap door in the floor to take his products to the basement. As I turned to exit the kitchen, my first step was into the basement. I remember landing on a stair about half way down. I remember the hot coffee burning my leg. I remember the owner coming down and picking me up and sitting me down on the basement floor. I remember that instead of calling an ambulance the owner decided to put me in his car and drive me to the ER in Grove City. I remember holding my leg and staring in horror at my foot, which instead of facing forward, was twisted to the left. Strangely, I didn't feel much pain. I guess the brain, during trauma, has a way of blocking what should have been excruciating pain. I felt my leg swelling. Ironically, as we were driving through Grove City, we passed my mother driving the family station wagon.

A pin was put in my ankle, and for 30 years my ankle has done very well. In recent years however, I have experienced traumatic arthritis and lots of pain. Hard to walk even a few blocks.

So on June 30th I will be getting this 'crappy' ankle replaced. I'm thrilled... my blog will be about my experiences with this and our healthcare system.

Penny for your thoughts

Did you know that it actually costs more than a penny to make a penny.. same with nickels. Our country is drowning in debt, why don't we just give up using nickels and pennies? I find them annoying, they just get in the way.

I also think that we could get rid of PBS.. let's face it in this day and age with satellite, dish, cable.. you don't think Barney or SS could find a home? Trust me they could.

We need to think 'outside the box' to put our country on a track to a balanced budget. It wasn't so long ago that we had one.. with dare I say, President Clinton.

One of our finance professors, who is deeply concerned about this country's debt to foreign countries suggested that we sell Alaska and Hawaii to raise money. I laughed .. but he kept a straight face.

Obama's 'so called' stimulus package of 400 million?? (I can't keep track of the amount) has led to NO NEW JOBS. Where did this money go??

And now this disaster in the Gulf, how long will we be able to use BP as an ATM to fix this?

I feel empathetic towards President Obama right now. He is not Harry Potter... He is not 'Aqua Man'. He is a completely incompetent leader who is in way over his head. All of us should be praying for him every night.

That's all for now. Good night.

The Slippery Slope

First it was AIG, then GM, and now BP? Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor under President Clinton, said the following today:

"It’s time for the federal government to put BP under temporary receivership, which gives the government authority to take over BP’s operations in the Gulf of Mexico until the gusher is stopped. This is the only way the public will know what’s going on, be confident enough resources are being put to stopping the gusher, ensure BP’s strategy is correct, know the government has enough clout to force BP to use a different one if necessary, and be sure the President is ultimately in charge."

"If the government can take over giant global insurer AIG and the auto giant General Motors and replace their CEOs, in order to keep them financially solvent, it should be able to put BP’s North American operations into temporary receivership in order to stop one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history."

I really cannot believe that all of this is happening unchallenged; especially by constitutional lawyers who should know better. It is illegal for the federal government to take over a private company. No matter how reasonable and apparently vital their goal may be. I'll tell you where my thinking takes me on this (courtesy of oyez.org).

Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, US Supreme Court

FACTS: In April of 1952, during the Korean War, President Truman issued an executive order directing Secretary of Commerce Charles Sawyer to seize and operate most of the nation's steel mills. This was done in order to avert the expected effects of a strike by the United Steelworkers of America.

QUESTION: Did the President have the constitutional authority to seize and operate the steel mills?

CONCLUSION: In a 6-to-3 decision, the Court held that the President did not have the authority to issue such an order. The Court found that there was no congressional statute that authorized the President to take possession of private property.

Seems pretty clear to me. I would love to hear other arguments.