Weekend and Politics

This weekend is before the New Hampshire primary.  The players have not changed.  But standings did.  

Hillary Clinton is a good woman.  She has values that I admire.  

Barack Obama is a good man.  He has values I admire too.

There is one more candidate on the ballot still that should be mentioned, Bill Richardson.  He has not given up his campaign for president.  I think he could shape some of the issues of the Democratic party.

I would hope  that the front runners will listen to all of the candidates that have dropped out of the race.  Joe Biden and Chris Dodd are good leaders, their ideas will shape the country.  They just did not have what was needed to inspire the Iowa or American public. I do not think this will be the end of those two in politics.

John Edwards has many things that will help him in his future.  I do not think it is his time to be president yet.  He has a lot of great qualities but maybe his talents still need to be on a local level, not international. 

The Democratic primary is the one that I am following. Hillary is for me, her stand on veterans health care roped me into supporting her, but any of these fine men would have my support.   Even Edwards.  

One vote does matter.  

Hillary might be...

This has been published on useless-knowledge.com!

Vacation

Vacation is great for a person health.  Going on a vacation allows a person to relax.  In this society today workers are not taking enough vacation, in my opinion.  

Making enough income to live is getting harder.  Once a second income was a nice addition, now it is necessary to maintain a middle class household.   Because of this taking a vacation has become tougher to take.

This reflects on vacation destinations like Disney World.  A theme park needs visitors.  Now Disney World might not be the best example of a place suffering from the lack of people being able to take a vacation, but Disney has accommodated, very well,  people who want to go but have a limited budget.  But if individuals did not get the accommodation, then Disney would suffer from lower attendance levels. 

Vacations can help increase a persons productivity.  A worker after getting away for a little while can come back with a fresh perspective on the job.  

Maybe with the advance of the mobil workforce more people could go on vacation and keep up with little parts of their jobs.  This is just one woman's opinion, what is yours?

Waiting with Children

Sitting in the doctor's waiting room, with young children, can be challenging.  The doctor provides, sometimes, books and toys.  What do you do if those hold no interest to your children?

Waiting anytime with children is a tough thing to do.  I have three children.  What I do when I have to wait at the doctor's office with my children is provide a small snack.  Cheerios, Goldfish and Raisins are my favorite to give my children.  If a snack does not work, I get down on the floor with my children and make up games we can play.

Getting down on the floor with kids can be  embarrassing.  Other adults look at me as if I am not doing the "Adult" thing.

But when waiting, what is the adult thing to do?  

I think that playing with my children helps with passing the time.  It also stimulates learning.  We sing quietly, "The itsy bitsy spider," or "Where is thumbkin."  Both of those songs teach.  

I, also when waiting, bring a favorite book, this is only if what the doctor has does not work. Reading on the floor quietly to my kids keeps their attention.  The time flies when having these small activities for my children.  This makes going to the doctor's office easier and the wait short.

Washing hands

This is important to good health.  Washing hands prevents the spread of serious disease.  A person should wash their hands after every time they go to the restroom.  According to experts, the washing should take the length of singing "Happy Birthday" to yourself twice.

But why do restaurants and some public bathrooms not refill the soap dispenser.

I have found this so often that it frightens me.  I go into a public bathroom somewhere and after using the facilities there is no soap.  Carrying around hand sanitizer is an option, but sometimes a person forgets.

This is a public health hazard.  Yes, it is the business' option to provide bathroom facilities.  A consumer uses these facilities.  How long does it take to maintain a soap dispenser?  Not long I think.

Also, the electronic soap dispensers just don't work.  At least every time I have tried to use one it does not dispense soap.  

Health will be the theme of this blog for the next month.  This is just one health issue that I will discuss.  So, anyone who owns a business, please refill the soap dispenser. You will be saving your customers from a serious health issue. 

Prescription Drugs: Are we Subsiding Socialized Medicine?

Prescription Drugs are expensive.  Americans have many problems that require prescriptions.  So, why can't Americans get the same prices, for prescription drugs,  as countries with socialized medicine.  

The answer is simple.  First other countries are charged for the cost of manufacturing the drug with a small profit margin.  Americans are charged for the cost of manufacturing the drug, the cost of research and development, and get to pay a large profit margin.

How can this be?

Again simple, other countries with socialized medicine will only pay so much for the drug.  There is no free market for that drug in countries with socialized medicine.  Countries with socialized medicine use preventative medicine and education.  A person also would not see programs in America that focus on dirty homes or programs that attack the fast food diet.  The countries with socialized medicine do see programs that focus on being healthier.  This means those countries also use less prescriptions.

The United States of America uses a medical system that treats for ailments.  The system does not encourage health.  Plus, American's are bombarded with prescription drug ads, which is a unique thing to our country.

This is something to think about, if the USA only treats the ailments, and we are charged for R&D of a prescription drug, are we subsidizing socialized medicine that other countries enjoy?

A time for reflection

Not having time for hobbies is not fun, but why that time is gone is fantastic.  As the New Year approaches let's take time to reflect back on the old.

2007 was a busy year.  I wrote.  I had my second daughter.  I self published on Lulu.com.  I got many rejections from publishers.  

I took a vacation to Disney World this year.  My son has grown into a fine teen.  My husband started his new position at work.  My oldest daughter started talking.  I started blogging.  

There were conflicts that happened.  There were worries.  There were tears.

Little triumphs and big happiness' peppered 2007.  The only regret is the time went so fast that I did not have time for my hobbies.  

2008 is rapidly approaching.  Have a great day today!