This is My World

If you have the flu it has always been important to stay home from work or school while you are sick.  However, before my back started bothering me, people that I worked with at Jasper Rubber would rather come to work sick than to get a point from missing work.  Many companies now have such strict attendance policies that it’s almost impossible to miss work if you are sick.  Apparently, Wal~mart is one of those.  Every time I go to the local Wal~mart my cashier is obviously sick.  This of course keeps most people in Perry County, Indiana with a cold of some sort. 

Now, here comes this Swine Flu or easier to pronounce Pig Flu.  The CDC is telling people that if you have any type of flu symptoms, you should stay home from work or school and away from other people.  If you’re not already sick, common ways to keep yourself from getting the flu include washing your hands regularly, avoiding contact with sick people, getting fresh air, and keeping yourself and your surroundings clean. 

So, I was reading all about this at www.perrycountynews.com and noticed that someone left this comment:

“We can thank Bush for tanking the economy, putting tens of millions of Americans out of their workplaces, thus slowing the spread of this epidemic.” –Tucker (comment from Perry County News Online)

 That got me to thinking.  I don’t blame Mr. Bush for the economy.  However, there is a benefit to having so many people already out of work.  That many fewer people will be coming to work getting the rest of us sick.  I have also noticed that Middle America, where the majority of jobless people reside, is less affected by this Swine Flu.  So, it is quite possible that the high unemployment rate has slowed the spread of this virus. 

A Perry County man convicted on meth charges got 60 years not too long ago.  A former Vanderburgh County Sherriff moved to Florida and got house arrest for fondling a young girl.  Am I the only one that sees the problem with this?

Clarence Shepard was the President of the Indiana Sheriffs Association before he retired to Fort Meyers, Florida in the 1990s.  Now, he is on house arrest in his nice retirement home supported by his retirement pension paid for by Indiana tax payer dollars.  He fondled a young girl and is getting a slap on the wrist.

Yes, I have a problem with this.  A drug dealer sells drugs to people that would find them somewhere else if that dealer wouldn’t sell them.  That crime is victimless because the buyers put themselves in that situation.  The dealer is just making a profit off of their addiction.  That is illegal and they should get in trouble.  The last drug dealer I know of to be convicted in Perry County got 60 years in prison. 

I honestly believe child molesters should get more time than drug dealers.  The young girl in this case will be scared for the rest of her life and will likely have relationship issues in the future.  Former sheriff or not this child molester should have lost his pension and been locked up longer than drug dealers.  I’m tired of child molesters getting a slap on the wrist. 

If you disagree, imagine that it was your daughter.

So I didn’t write anything last night. I really wanted to but my back had spasms from my tail bone all the way to my neck. It was rather painful and frustrating. My two year old nephew was here and all I could do is lay on the couch and watch him play. That’s a lot of pain for having an MRI that was normal. Of course it was done at Perry County Memorial Hospital. So it is entirely possible that they could have mixed up the films. I wouldn’t put it past them; they have mixed up more important things before.

Since I was out of commission all day yesterday, I thought I would write an update on how my back was doing. If you read my previous post about my back you would know that the lumbar region of my back has been giving me a ridiculous amount of trouble lately.  The Tramadol that my specialist gave me because it is “a light enough narcotic to go to work while taking it” quit working as well as it did. It somewhat takes the edge off, but it’s like my body got used to taking it. The steroid injections just plain didn’t do anything. I was numb for a couple hours then the pain all came back at once. The McKenzie Theory physical therapy that didn’t help six years ago didn’t help this time either. I tried to tell my physical therapist that it didn’t help and some exercises actually make it worse, but again it was at Perry County Memorial Hospital.Basically, I am really frustrated right now. Since my MRI was “normal” my specialist and my regular doctor don’t believe that I am in as much pain as I tell them. I have explained to them that I cannot sit up for more that an hour at a time, walking is a nightmare, and I don’t even try lifting another object because supporting myself is enough of a problem.

I’m also frustrated with my short term disability insurance company, Mutual of Omaha. They sent me a letter explaining that a statement from my doctor saying I was unable to work due to extreme back pain was not enough to continue my short term disability payments. And of course I have applied to Social Security for disability and of course they are dragging their asses on it. So, I’m stuck. No income, no way of getting an income and my boyfriend’s income isn’t enough to pay the bills. I guess that’s just life. You just do the best you can with what you have to work with and let God take care of the rest.

It was almost hidden from view, but out of shear boredom I accidentally stumbled upon it.  Why this was in the Evansville paper and not the Perry County News I have no idea. 

Years ago the meat of Perry County, Indiana’s economy was agriculture.  It still a big part, but not nearly as much as what it once was.  When a little factory called Waupaca came to town in the nineties, Tell City expanded it’s city limits to accommodate the rising population.  From what I understand Waupaca in Tell City makes among other things large metal parts of engines and transmissions and such for the big three automakers.  Everyone knows what’s going on in Detroit.  Well, stuff like that rolls down hill.  Now, this little town is getting a swift kick in the rear because CEO’s in bigger cities think it’s more important to pad their own wallets than to keep their companies afloat.

The Evansville Courier had a story tucked away on its website about Waupaca.  The story said that the foundry had its third round of job reductions this year, letting go 45 more people.  This brings the total up to 190 people without jobs that were previously employed at Waupaca.  That may not sound like much to you but to Perry County, Indiana that’s a big hit.

We’ll make it though.  We already have in the past.   Tell City used to have a GE plant, Fischer’s Chair Company, and Tell City Chair that I remember.  I believe there was also a Woodcrafter’s and a couple other factories.  When big plants close or lay-off, the whole county feels it.  Then, we help each other through it, pick up the pieces, and move on.  And that’s why I still love small towns.

Well, my small town is still quiet.  There’s something going on at Saddle Lake with a search party, but no one really knows what’s going on.  So, in an effort to gain more readers I’ve decided to tell ya’ll about the deer I shot back in November. 

See my cousin and my step-dad had been out deer hunting multiple times with no results.  Finally, one day I get a wake up call.  They’re so excited it took two of them to kill this tiny little buck.  Between the two of them they fired about 7 shots and they weren’t really sure whose slug actually hit the deer.  I inadvertently started shaking my head.  See my dad taught me how to hunt.  So, every time my step-dad and whoever he’s hunting with come back from the woods with some wild story, I laugh so hard.  Especially, if someone’s shooting at a deer while taking a dump.  Basically, I already knew I could do better.

You see, one thing I know for sure is squirrel season is for finding where the deer are moving so you can get a deer when deer season starts.  So, I had been squirrel hunting behind my house almost everyday since the start of squirrel season.  It took me five shots from my .22 rifle to bring in five squirrels.  I got four one day and one another day.  They tasted really good in squirrel dumplings.

Anyway, I let my step-dad and my cousin be so proud of this deer that took 7 shots and 2 people.  But I asked my step-dad if he would clean a deer if I shot one.  He said he would.  I don’t think he thought I would actually get one. 

At that time I was working third shift at Jasper Rubber.  I managed to get home before the sun came up one day.  The temperature was like 12 or 13 degrees, so I put on my camouflage cover-alls with a pair of sneakers and an orange sock cap.  I headed down to my tree stand behind the pond, just inside the wood-line.  It was still dark so I waited.  The wind was blowing so I was rocking a little bit.  Directly, the sun started peeking over the trees.  I knew there had been a deer walking along the treeline for a while but he hadn’t shown up yet that morning. 

I sat there a while longer and was getting a little tired.  So, I decide to try and sneak down the tree stand find another place to sit.  I got turned around so I could head down the ladder and I heard it.  There was a big ole spike buck eating foliage as he walked along.  He didn’t hear me yet and I didn’t have a clear shot so I waited. 

My tree stand sits right where that deer trail turns and goes into the woods, so I knew he was going to turn and come closer.  I did a little studying to see where the best possible place would be for me to get a shot.  Soon after he turned, he stopped in that spot to take another bite.  I remembered my dad telling me to line up my sights.  So, I did.  Then, I took a breath a squeezed the trigger.  He dropped right where he was, one shot one kill.  The slug entered near his right shoulder, went through the heart, and lodged in the other side of his ribs. 

This particular deer made a lot of breakfast sausage and summer sausage.  We also kept a lot of chops and steaks.  That’s good eating.  I reckon the meat from this deer would fill my little freezer up about 5 times for the cost of one slug and one deer tag.  To buy that much meat in the store would cost approximately $400 if you purchased discounted meat.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love small towns? 

Well, this time I actually mean it.  I have checked the Perry County News website everyday for quite a while.  I just realized this evening that it hasn’t changed in three days.  This means there has been no fatal traffic accidents since Monday, no one has been busted with a significant amount of drugs, and if there was violence no one reported it. 

Actually, it has been rather peaceful around here lately.  Most of my neighbors are busy mowing lawns and planting gardens.  My closest neighbor (my mom) has tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage, green beans, and corn in hers.  She plans on adding more.  I talked to her while she was grilling barbecue chicken on the front porch today.  I’ve got a couple yellow tomato plants and a few sweet banana pepper plants in mine.  I plan to add okra if I can find the seeds.  Of course, with my back the way it is I can’t do this by myself.  I need a lot of help, but it gets done. 

There are also two benefits this weekend to help people pay their doctor bills and living expenses.  That’s small towns for you.  We’re always helping eachother out. 

Other than that I have a baby shower to go to Sunday.  Congratulations to Nadina (Sanders) Paulin.  She’s expecting her first child. 

If anyone ever has any of their own small town news, leave a message in the comments with your email address.  If I think it’s interesting, I’ll get an email to you asking for more details and possibly make it into a post on my blog.  In the meantime, I’ll enjoy my peace and quiet. 

As always, thank you for reading.  Ya’ll come back now ya hear.

“Clarke stated to officers that he is from Jamaica and smokes a lot of marijuana.”

This is according to the Evansville Courier and many local news channels.  A lot of people in the area are still laughing at this story.  This guy was driving around smoking marijuana.  Apparently, he had a little too much.  He fell asleep at a stop light.  When officers tried to check on him to be sure he’s okay, they smelled a strong odor of marijuana.  He had 45 grams in his pocket.  When he told officers that he was from Jamaica and smokes a lot of pot, that comfirmed it:

He was too high to drive. 

Being from Jamaica doesn’t make it okay to break American laws while you’re here.  However, this does confirm my theory that you should not smoke and drive, legal or not.

Okay so I was reading stories at www.courierpress.com .  My local paper was all gossip again.  Anyway, the Evansville paper reported that someone tried to rob the Kangaroo Express on Kentucky Ave in Evansville, Indiana.  The suspect’s weapon of choice was a machete.  Which is understandable.  The price of guns went up with the demand; now, it’s cheaper to buy a machete.  In case you don’t know, a machete is a 20-24 inch knife used to cut sugarcane. 

Anyway, the online paper had the security video available to view.  Apparently, the suspect chose the wrong clerk to pick on that day.  With resourceful skill the clerk managed to fight the suspect off with a chair.  At some point the clerk also got the machete from the suspect.  The suspect later told police that he just snapped and the crack made him do it. 

Congratulations to the clerk for being able to fight this guy off.  If anyone is thinking about copying this guy, think again.  The suspect is being charged with aggravated battery using a weapon and attempted robbery.  Both of these are class B felonies in Indiana. 

One more comment to anyone thinking about stricter gun control: If you take away the guns they’ll find something else.

Most of my life I’ve heard global warming this, global warming that.  Then, I was watching the History Channel a couple months ago.  Other experts are now saying that we’re actually on the verge of another ice age.  That doesn’t sound too warm to me.  With so many “expert” opinions out there, I thought I would offer my “everyday normal person opinion.”

Honestly, I feel the Earth’s temperatures go up and down naturally over time.  It’s the Earth’s way of cleaning itself and making plants and animals stronger.  However, I do feel there are some things humans do to damage the environment.  Carbon emissions cause the oceans to be more acidic and cause the air we breath to be polluted.  I feel that air pollution has contributed to the rise in lung diseases and cancer. 

That being said, Earth Day is one of my least favorite holidays.  I get sick of hearing about it.  I live in the country because the air is cleaner.  The trees take some pollution out of the air and produce oxygen.  Those trees are amazing.  They’re beautiful too. 

I think windmills to produce electricity would be a better option that relying on nuclear energy or mass burning of coal.  I think steam engine locomotives are better than diesel because steam engines produce less pollution.  Once again, pollution in the air makes people sick. 

Yes, I own a vehicle.  It’s necessary in today’s world.  In most areas, there are no longer places for horses to park.  I do feel that we should have stuck to alcohol produced from corn for automotive fuel instead of relying on gasoline.  Not only is it cleaner, but an average farmer with a whiskey still can produce it.  Unfortunately, politics had a role in that during the prohibition era.

Finally, self sufficiency is very important. When you rely on everyone else for your goods and services you become a slave the the world.  If I could grow my own food, produce my own electricity, and dig a well, the only reasons I would have left to need an income would be for the phone bill and to pay property taxes.  Of those, property taxes are ridiculous, but that’s a whole other story.

The website “wibv.com” has a story on it titled “Obama hit with marijuana question.”  With recent medical discoveries involving marijuana and Mr. Obama’s movement to a greener economy, I was curious to what he would say.  The question was,

“With over 1 out of 30 Americans controlled by the penal system, why not legalize, control, and tax marijuana to change the failed war on drugs into a money making, money saving boost to the economy? Do we really need that many victimless criminals?”

Makes sense to me.  People are going to smoke it anyway.  It less harmful than alcohol.  Why not put a tax on it?  The government could make money off of it rather than spend money on controlling it.  Legalizing it would add marijuana to the agriculture economy.  When your soil is not good for anything else, weed will still grow.  Imagine the jobs that could be created out of this. 

Apparently, that’s not what the new president meant by a greener economy, or economy growth. 

“I don’t know what that says about the online audience,” Obama said with a laugh. “The answer is no, I don’t think that’s a good strategy to grow our economy.”

He said it with a laugh.  Does that mean he’s not taking his voters seriously? I think it does.  I also feel like he’s thinks less of someone that has that opinion.  Actually, I’m slightly offended that he didn’t take the question seriously.  By the way, that’s not the first time this president has offended me.

Well, I just read a story about a 2-yr-old that shot herself accidentally.   While gun safety and control is a touchy subject, I do feel the need to post my feelings on it.  I can’t imagine how this little girl’s parents feel right now.  And I pray for them.  This does bring up a lot of issues.

First, if you have small children in the home, you really need to put your firearms where they cannot get to them.  This should be common sense.  Second, I’m sure somehow anti-gun fanatics will use this to try to implement more gun control.  This is not needed.  Gun owners simply need to be more responsible.

When I was a child, my parents always had guns in the house.  At least one of them was loaded at all times.  They were responsible enough to keep them out of my reach until I was old enough to understand not to play with them.  Even with the toy guns I had as a child, my parents told me to never point them at anyone.  Now I own my own firearms.  When there are small children in my house they don’t even see them.

The answer to accidental shootings is not more gun control, rather more responsibility.  Don’t point it at anything you don’t want to shoot, and keep them out of reach of children. It’s that simple.

Okay.  So I read the usual local papers today.  Nothing interesting. 

So, something that has been on my mind for a while is my back.  It has hurt for the past six years.  In 2003, an MRI in California found degenerate disc disease between my L5 and S1 vertebrae.  When I got out of the Navy in 2005, I applied for Social Security Disability.  Of course they turned me down.  I ran out of money so I went back to work. 

First the Dollar General, I nearly got fired because I couldn’t get around the store as quickly as the other employees.  Second Wal-Mart, I was doing okay most days.  When my back was hurting to the point I couldn’t handle it, I called in sick.  My attendance almost got me fired, so I quit.  The next day I walked into a gas station and got hired on the spot.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t stock the cooler quick enough to wait on customers at the same time, so as the trend goes, I quit before I got fired. 

My next step was a local factory, Jasper Rubber.  The first year was excruciating. With the help of a bottle of Tylenol Arthritis a week, I managed to make it to where I could crawl in my front door when I got home.  I’d make it to the living room floor and lay there for a couple hours before I could make my way into the shower.  The mental stress got to be too much in that department, so I took a higher paying position in the same factory with less mental stress.  I switched to Aleve and constantly had a muscle rub on my back.  The pain kept getting worse and worse, until February 23, 2009.  I went home early from work that night, thinking a couple days rest would make it better.  Well, it didn’t.

My regular doctor ordered another MRI that didn’t find anything.  So he referred me to a specialist.  The specialist gave me tramadol and recommended steroid injections in my back.  The only thing the injections did was make it worse for a couple days.  Now, even with the new pain meds, I’m back to where I was in the end of February.  It hurts to sit up.  I take one of the electric wheel chairs through Wal-mart.  Housework is almost impossible.  I can’t even stand up long enough to do the dishes. 

The “easy” solution I’ve heard about from so many people is “sign up for disability.”  So, here I am starting over again.  I’m currently on FMLA from Jasper Rubber.  Mutual of Omaha that I have short term disability insurance through is only approving it one month at a time.  I went the entire month of March without a pay check.  I borrowed money from family to pay the utilities in March.  I got my first check from Mutual of Omaha in April.  It almost covered the bills. 

I applied for disability again in the beginning of March.  I’ve been waiting on an answer ever since.  They want me to drive an hour and a half away to see their doctor to verify that my back pain really does prevent me from being able to work.  In the meantime, my medical bills are at a thousand dollars and rising.  And I keep praying that we actually get a stimulus check in May so I can pay the utilities.  By the way, because of the short term disability I don’t qualify for food stamps. 

Trust me, if I could go back to work I would.  That’s just not possible right now.  What hurts the most is when people tell me it’s all in my head. 

I read the one story in my local paper that isn’t actually gossip.  Then I posted about it.  Then I wandered on over to the Evansville Courier  www.courierpress.com. There is a story in that paper about two young men about 19 years old that got busted with 130 grams of marijuana.  One of them even had a hand held scale with them.  Hmm, I wonder what they were doing.  I bet they were going to sell that. 

Anyway, the comment area of this article is currently live with a debate over whether the drug should be legal or not.  Some of the comments are longer than the actual story itself.  So I thought I would let people know of my own thoughts on the subject.

I don’t think anyone should try driving while smoking marijuana. I’ve known people that have tried this, they can’t seem to go the speed limit. They usually are driving much slower. I don’t know of anyone who has died from an overdose of marijuana.  I have known people that have successfully used it to relieve stomach aches and back pain.  Other people I have known in the past are a lot less stressed while using it.  Other than that there’s a recent discovery by scientists that the THC found in marijuana cures brain tumors in lab rats.  I hope they can apply that to humans soon, that would be a medical miracle. 

Currently, no, I do NOT use marijuana.  However,  I am sitting here in extreme pain after a cortisone injection in my back made it worse.  I am actually having thoughts that if scientists were able to isolate the pain killer in marijuana, I may try it, if it were legalized for medical use in Indiana. 

In 1997, a young woman’s body was found in the woods in Perry County.  This only added to a number of unsolved murder and dissapearence cases in Perry County.  Since then many more have piled up.

In the past 12 years the Indiana State Police have felt the need to spend a lot of time and money on speed traps and sobriety check points.  In 2008, Indiana State Police got a grant to work on cold case files.  A detective was assigned to the case of this young woman after someone looked at the file and found possible leads.  A grand jury finally was presented the case on Monday, April 13, 2009.  Yesterday, Wednesday, April 15, the grand jury indicted two men in her murder.  People in Perry County are happy that it appears as though the case is solved. 

However, this does raise a few questions.  First, why did it take 12 years?  When it first happened, police knew who she was with and where she was at that night.  With the same basic evidence they were able to ask a few more questions and basically solve the case.  Next, does this mean that other unsolved murders and disappearances in Perry County will get a second look?  I sure hope so. 

Earlier I had written about the “de-construction of Hwy 145.”  First I would like to comment that I had a steroid injection in my back today.  It hurts very much bad.  We went to Wal-mart in Tell City to get fishing licenses today.  I used one of those electric wheelchairs.  It worked great.  Thanks Wal-mart.

I noticed today that on the way to Tell City Hwy 145 wasn’t all that bad.  It had a few bumps but we took it slow and I could handle it. The problem I had was the highway on the way home.   Apparently, the northbound lane is the worst.  At speeds much lower than the speed limit I was sitting in the passenger seat in tears.  When we turned onto the county road I live on, I noticed it was significantly smoother than the state highway we used to get to it.  When I got home, I could barely sit up and I’m still having problems with it.

After laying down for a while I managed to look at my local paper online at perrycountynews.com.  There was an article about what county roads would be fixed this year.  On the list was the county road that I live on.  My motto has always been “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”  However, regular maintenance is necessary to keep county roads in good condition.  For the most part Perry County is good at keeping up with the maintenance on county roads.

My issue is if Perry County can keep its county roads smooth and drivable, why can’t the state of Indiana keep Hwy 145 drivable.  Right now that highway is tearing up the suspension on my vehicle and making my back hurt worse.  I think the state of Indiana needs to take a lesson from Perry County.