Scribblings

Memorial Day

The saddest thing about this Memorial Day for me is that so many of the young generation have been maimed and hurt in a war in Iraq that was as unnecessary as the one in Viet Nam. Will we never learn? When the drums of patriotism are beat, will we always just cave in for fear of being seen as unAmerican, even when we know in our hearts that the war is wrong? So many wounded and damaged. So much money for war. So little money to heal those we send off to war.

I salute our veterans for doing

Continue reading →
Scribblings

I tried to get a picture

I’m in my office working away when I hear sounds that indicate one of my dogs is choking to death. So I go into SuperMomma mode, jump up from my desk and run upstairs. There I find Carm with his newest toy (thanks Auntie Sonya) stuffed so firmly in his mouth that it is blocking his nose and he can’t breathe. But because Snowy is sitting right in front of him waiting for the toy to drop, Carm would clearly rather suffocate than give it up. I would have taken a picture had I not been laughing so hard. I

Continue reading →
Scribblings

How you know it’s time to take a break

image

They say people and their pets eventually start to look alike. Well, this isn’t exactly a pet but it seems to me that perhaps Katie needs to take a short break as she is having a sympathetic tongue reaction to the eagle’s tongue. And that says “Take a break” to me.

The eagle is one of the many we are caring for at Bird TLC here in Anchorage. The bird is getting ready to be placed in an education program. And no, the eagle’s tongue doesn’t usually stick out like that. Katie’s maybe, but not the eagle.

Thanks to Phil

Continue reading →
Columns 2015

There is no bar so low our Republican legislators can’t find a way to get beneath it

It must have been the dental surgery I had last week. That can be the only reason I missed my legislators coming to my door to find out what I really think about the work they did this session. They did come around, didn’t they? Isn’t that the reason they gave for their little two-week working vacation? So did anyone have a Republican legislator come knocking on their door to see how they felt about budget cuts? And remember, if you were one of those foolish people who thought the legislature existed in the 21st Century and so used e-mail,

Continue reading →
Scribblings

Once in a while, a nice surprise

Got the bill from my dental surgeon for implant surgery I had. Found a $450 senior discount on the bill. I guess growing old does bring some perks. If you live in Alaska, his name is Eric Nordstrom and he’s actually a pretty amazing dental surgeon on top of being nice to the elderly. What more could you want?

Continue reading →
Scribblings

If you haven’t heard

Leonard Pitt’s column about the guy trying to crowd source $30,000 for his health care is a must read. The guy is a Republican who refused to get Obamacare because he could pay for himself and didn’t need no stinking government welfare. Well, he got sick. Used up all his savings. Couldn’t work. And apparently health care providers don’t take bootstraps as pay. He then tried to get Obamacare but enrollment was closed. He wasn’t eligible for Medicaid because he lives in one of those states where a Republican governor refused Medicaid expansion money. So, as Leonard Pitts so wisely

Continue reading →
Columns 2015

Dental surgery aftermath

I awoke today to no pain in the surgical site and no need to take pain meds so I am back to being functional… ok, maybe functional is too high to grasp but at least I’m not sitting in a chair drooling while watching BB reruns. That has to count for something.

Continue reading →