On the road today...

A belated Happy Thanksgiving wish to all my readers. Sorry I haven't posted anything new, but other than the details of my holiday cooking, there wasn't much to report yesterday. The turkey came out good, though! :-D

We will be on the road most of today to do some visiting, but I'll be back later this evening, so there should be new posts tonight or tomorrow morning.

Until then, have a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend!!

Sphere: Related Content

Aren't hospitals supposed to heal?

Just read this story about Dennis Quaid's newborn twins being given an overdose of Heparin (a blood thinner) while they are in the hospital. We're not talking about a small oversight either... the babies were given 10,000 units instead of the 10 units that were prescribed.

How does someone mistake 10,000 for 10?

Making matters worse, this occurred at Cedars Sinai Medical Center, one of the most reknowned hospitals in the world, and it happened to three patients in all. One would think that such "preventable errors" would not occur in a hospital that prides itself on being the best of the best, and one would also expect that such an error would be caught before it occurred three times.

Unfortunately, having worked in a hospital myself, I know that such errors are all too frequent. I am not a nurse, but I worked with nurse managers who were responsible - in part - for quality control in their respective departments. The thing I learned is that everyone who works in a hospital is human, and therefore capable of making mistakes. That applies to everyone from your neurosurgeon to the guy mopping the floor.

More important to us, as patients, is that any one of those mistakes has the potential to do us harm. For example, one friend of mine signed herself out AMA after being given soiled towels to use after having had a C-section. Luckily she started out drying her hair, and discovered the mess on the towels before they got near her incision. But it was a close call, and she left the hospital feeling she was far safer from infection in her own house than in that purportedly "sterile" environment.

Another friend nearly died when her doctor nicked her colon during a "simple procedure". As if that weren't bad enough, both the doctor and the ER she went to later pooh-poohed her complaints about pain, fever, and excessive bleeding until she collapsed at home. By then, she had to have 70% of her blood volume replaced, and spent more than a month in the hospital getting massive doses of antibiotics to fight the infections caused by bodily waste mixing with her blood. After years of pain, repeated corrective surgeries, and various other treatments that I can't even list, she still doesn't have her life back, and likely never will.

Technology was supposed to help prevent many of those human errors. They have computers dispensing meds, lasers and high-tech cameras to aid in surgical procedures, and just about everything from your blood pressure to your location are electronically monitored if you're in the hospital these days. But even with all that technology supposedly making our hospital stays safer, accidents like the one mentioned above still happen.

So if you're going to be in the hospital, be on your guard. Ask questions, and insist on answers. Double check what they're putting in your IV, take a good look at the towels, bring your own toothbrush, etc. Even more importantly, be prepared by assigning someone in your family to closely monitor every aspect of your care if you are unable to (due to illness or state of consciousness). Also, make sure that person's name is listed as your authorized representative with all your doctors, clinics, or hospitals - otherwise the staff won't tell them anything due to HIPAA restrictions.

Being sick or hospitalized is not something any of us want to think about. But spending a little time getting prepared in case something happens could be the most important thing you do for your own health - right up there with mammograms, annual physicals, and wearing seat belts.

Basically, it could mean the difference between recovery and death.

Sphere: Related Content

RoadLoans - car financing made easy

Shortly after moving to Pennsylvania, my husband and I realized that our very old car was not going to pass inspection here. The car was a 1995 Dodge Intrepid with over 160,000 miles on it, so the cost of making it inspection-ready would be more than what the car was actually worth. Obviously it would cost us money either way, but in the long run, we felt it was better to have one regular monthly payment than to keep getting blindsided by ever-increasing repair bills on the old car.

Naturally, the first thing we needed was to find a bank or finance company that would give us a car loan. We tried going through the dealers, but most wanted very large downpayments, and even with that, they couldn't guarantee us an approval. My husband is retired and I'm not working right now (at least not for a salary), so getting approved was quite a challenge.

After the first discouraging week, I decided to go online and see if I could find some auto loans that were tailored for those with credit problems. That was when I found the link for RoadLoans.com.

I read through all the information on their website (see link at right or banner at bottom of page), and it sounded easy. Besides, I thought, what have we got to lose besides our old clunker? So I filled out the application online, which took approximately 10 minutes. The next morning I had an email saying we had been approved for an auto loan up to $15,000, and that the paperwork - along with a check we could take to any franchise dealer - would be sent to us via overnight mail!

Honestly, I was still pretty skeptical. This sounded too easy, and they hadn't even asked to verify our income. But we desperately needed a car, and since there were no up-front fees, we didn't have anything to lose by giving it a try. Now I'm very glad we did.

There are a few things you should know up front:

1.) The interest rates are a bit high, but since these loans are primarily for those who have problem credit, then a higher interest rate should be expected. Still, it's a lot lower than what many folks are paying for interest on their credit cards.

2.) It's a "simple interest" loan, which means if you can pay more than the minimum, that amount comes off your principle, which also lowers your total interest charges over the life of the loan. There is NO prepayment fee either, so if that lottery ticket pays off, you can pay off the loan early, saving even more on interest charges.

3.) You must go through a franchise dealer (Buick, Dodge, Ford, Toyota, Subaru, etc.) - not one of those tiny used car lots. RoadLoans also has an option for buying from a private seller, but that is a bit more complicated and takes longer. We chose to use a reputable dealer.

4.) Although you get a "blank check" right away, the deal isn't closed until RoadLoans informs the dealer that the check will be approved for funding. This is often done within 24 hours though, unless it's a weekend or holiday.

5.) You must have a current utility bill (less than 30 days old) to prove your residence address. This is very important! We used a bill that was about 33 days old at first, and it wasn't acceptable, so we had to wait a day for the new bill to come in the mail and then send them that one instead.

All in all, the process of getting our car loan was quick, painless, and very easy - much easier than I had dared to hope when we started out looking for a car. Our monthly payments are fixed, and since we could take a loan term up to 72 months, we could keep the payments relatively low so we weren't overextended. In the end, thanks to RoadLoans we are now driving around in a 2004 Jeep Cherokee that has less than 50k miles on it, and is likely to last us long past the life of the loan.

So, I can honestly say - based on our personal experience - RoadLoans is a very reliable, easy, safe, and affordable way to get the car you need right now, with no hassle, no hidden fees, and no pain. Plus, the check is good at any franchise dealer, so you can shop around as much as you like until you find the right car, and then negotiate with the dealer as if you were walking in with the cash in your hand.

Don't let the banks and auto finance companies get you down. Check out RoadLoans today. I am positive you will be glad you did.


Note: This is my first real product endorsement - however, I am not being paid for this (other than the small affiliate fee I get if you use the RoadLoans banners on this page to access their application). Rather, I am writing this review solely because we had such a good experience with this company that I want to help others who may be having trouble financing a new or used car.

Sphere: Related Content

A culture of hate

There are times when it's not the news itself that grabs my attention, but rather the reactions to it that are written by others. Such was the case today when I read this story on AOL...

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/suv-plunges-into-canal-killing-seven/20071119065709990001

It's the story of a group of people - human beings, including several young children - who died when an SUV plunged off the road and into a canal in California. It's a tragic story of lives lost and a reminder about protecting ourselves and our kids with car seats and seat belts.

That should be the end of the story, except for the families who must now deal with the loss of loved ones.

But what grabbed my attention was not so much the story as the comments written in response to the story by the readers. Because those in the car had Hispanic surnames, it appears that many readers are assuming the occupants were illegal aliens. Making that assumption, when the article never mentions the immigration status of any of the victims, is proof that far too many people are using immigration status as a way of promoting prejudice. But it goes deeper than that, as you can see in the following comment posted by one responder (I hate giving this comment space here, but to prevent my readers from having to scroll through 50 pages of comments to find it, I will copy it for you)...

uneedsome2day 02:06:12 PM Nov 19 2007

Look perhaps some people cant read! In intitial post, it was stated that There was remorse for loss of life! However, if these people - KEY IF - were illegals then its ok! We dont need more mouth to feed in this country! Unless of course they are LEGAL LAW ABIDING RESIDENTS who have been born in or allowed to reside here legally! Does that make more sense. I simply stated that 7 people would equal 49 cause each could have 7 kids. And if one takes 49 X 7 that should equal 343 less Illegals this United States Government would have to support! Its that simple! how is this prejudice or biggot remark I dont get it?I simply made an observation of facts. Likewise if they were all legals then my heart goes out to them and their families for their loss! TU COMPRENDES Nosotros?


What the hell is wrong with this person?
Since when does someone have to have a green card in order to have the right to exist?
Since when is the death of a child - much less several children - NOT a tragedy?

How can anyone so easily write off 7 human lives without a moment of regret or even a kind word for their grieving families just because the victims MIGHT not have been legal immigrants (and there's no proof of that anyway)? This person doesn't even seem to have any sympathy or compassion for the children who, regardless of their immigration status, had no more choice about where they live (legally or not) than they did about being in that car.

It is this kind of behavior that I refer to in the title above. What is worse is that it is our own government - beginning with Bush himself - that has encouraged this kind of hatred, prejudice, and divisiveness. The hatred being spewed against immigrants (legal or not) has been all but encouraged by the Bush administration and Republicans in general. The same is true in regard to the other groups for whom hatred and bigotry are accepted, such as gays, Muslims, the poor, etc.

Why? Because it gives American's someone to blame for the dire straights our leaders have put us in, and turns our attention away from the more serious problems facing our nation - like the war, the healthcare crisis, global warming, gas prices and the economy, homelessness, dwindling natural resources, the disintegration of much of our infrastructure, etc.

Instead of focusing our attention on our elected officials and demanding they stop pandering to special interests and do the job we hired them for, we are allowing them to manipulate us into blaming the problems in our society on illegal immigration, welfare, sexual orientation or religious affliation, nationality, and even smoking. But those are not the real causes of our problems, just as the small percentage of illegal immigrants living in America are not responsible for unemployment and underemployment. It is not the few jobs that immigrants take (most of which are not wanted by any legal residents because they pay far too little, have no benefits, and demand excessive hours with no paid sick time or vacation) that is hurting the US economy - it's the deals that Congress and the White House made with big business, allowing them to outsource their production to other countries in order to increase their profits at the expense of both quality workmanship and jobs for Americans.

Reading that reply made me sick. It makes me ashamed to think that the person who wrote that reply is an American, and ashamed that anyone in the 21st century can still think that a human life has so little value. I'm ashamed that my fellow Americans are so ignorant and easily manipulated. And I'm ashamed that our government is responsible for it.

When will we learn? When will we wake up? When will we start valuing humanity more than we value money and materialism? When will we realize that the longer we allow ourselves to devalue ANYONE, for ANY reason - the better the chances are that one day, it will be our own lives that someone deems as no great loss, and our own humanity that is considered unworthy of compassion, kindness, or tolerance.

Sphere: Related Content

Snow!!

Well, we've now experienced all of Pennsylvania's weather options. The snow began early Sunday morning (or late Saturday night for those who were out partying), lasted all day yesterday, and through the night. In fact, it's still snowing now, but not as heavily. So far we've got about 6 inches, but could hit 8 before it's over.

I added a couple of pictures on the right >>>

We really have a marvelous view here, even on a day like this. It did get kind of spooky last night when the power went out, as the whole city below us went dark as well. But with all the snow, it didn't even seem that dark. Kind of eerily beautiful, actually. And the power was back on by the time I woke up this morning. Plus, the power company offers a free wake-up call when there's an outage, so it didn't even make my son late for school (they were on a 2-hour delay anyway).

All in all, a very enjoyable winter event! (Well, at least until we have to start shoveling it.)

Sphere: Related Content