I'm cold and calous

Search: Burke's family gets $550K medical bill

The family of Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke, 29, (get details on her death) is working to raise more than half a million dollars to cover her medical bills. Burke's (watch videos of her) accident apparently happened at an unsanctioned event that wasn't covered by her insurance (where was she at the time?). A fundraising website (find it) has been set up to help pay the huge costs.

 

World famous skier makes much more money than I ever did, I'm very sure of that, but chose to do something stupid.  I'm sorry she died, I really am, but now poor people are being asked to contribute hard earned and much needed money to help pay money to wealthy doctors and hospitals to pay the bill of a well off person that died after doing something stupid  (what makes her death an act of stupidity was she engaged in a dangerous activity that wasn't covered by her insurance). 

 

The doctors and hospitals have a right to be paid but the greedy relatives should sell the assests of the deceased to settle the bills instead of asking people to pony up for the bills, then pocket the money once the estate is settled. 

 

If one wants to help another, there is a 101 year old lady just recently evicted and there are families suffering huge debt due to a loved on being injured by a drunk driver or someone trying to rob them

or in countless other ways that weren't their fault.      

Presidential election

I think I'll vote for Bill clinton

Big Bang not a theory anymore

I now understand the big Bang that created our universe.  It occurred when God said  "Let there be..." 

Yard work progressing

I started back in October clearing the half acre of overgrowth at the church.  I had a set of lobbers a hoe, a shovel, and a small hand saw but I also had a lot of determination.  There isn't any way to clear all of the land since there are numerous tree trunks scattered about one section but I can clear a big portionof the property making it look better and also making it more functional. 

I cleared out one section which I intend to plant pumpkins to sell to raise money to pay for upkeep to the property. My gift to the church.  I hope to be selloing some at NASCAR Days in Randleman this fall. 

I have some concrete blocks, brinks, and the wood from an old outhouse to get rid of, a few trees that need to be cut, and one small section of overgrowth to clean out and then I will be ready to plant grass on the one side and till the ground for my pumpkin patch on the other.  I hope to be finished in about two weeks if someone brings a chainsaw to cut the trees for me.  If not, I'll have to finish with my hand saw what I can and leave the rest until after I sell the pumkins in the fall. 

Personal Update

I signed up yesterday to be a little league baseball coach in Randleman and am looking forward to that. I finally enlisted some help on clearing the lot at the church but the mans' chainsaw blades were dull so he will have to return later to cut the trees.

Thomas tires has graciouslyy agreed to accept the discarded tires and dispose of them at no cost to the church.  Thomas Tire is staffed with good people.

The landscaper at Hudges Furniture said he would use me some this year on his crews.  I don't need much work, just a little extraincome.

Someone commented on my last blog but I believe it to be spam.  These people should find something better to do with there time.

The little church I attend is getting some semi-permanent members next week.  Actually it is a yioung preacher and his family are coming to help out while the preacher will be recovering from surgery.  It would be nice if they would join but the family is from Burlington.

I am making progress with my project at the church.  I did a little work inside the church.  I sealed the hole where a stove pipe went through the wall and sealed a gap in the ceiling above the pulpit and moved a few wall hangings to opoen up the church building some.  I have cleared my spot for my pumpkin patch and have started on the areas directly behind the church. 

One day I would love to get all the tree trunks and brush piles moved but that may have to wait a year or two or maybe another lifetime. 

We did have one family quit the church because he didn't like one of our pastor's sermons.  The man didn't like our plans for the Christmas play, didn't like the way the ladies who have recently joined the church dressed, didn't like this and didn't like that.  He said he would consider coming back if we did something about the women.   Our associate pastor resigned his position due to some personal problems so given our limited numbers already, yea, those losses were a big blow but we will work hard and one day the church will grow. 

temper tantrum leads to damaged property

A young man lost his temper the other day and decided to blow off steam by driving his untagged truck around his yard Thurdsday.  His fit caused damage to the yard at his rental home, to the church yard adjacent to his rental home, and to the business across the street from his rental home. 

Fortunately for him his mother is a member of the church so not only did they not prosecute or seek
compensation for the damages, they repaired the work themselves.  Unfortunately the business across the street was not so kindly disposed and they are seeking payment for the damages to that property.  doubly unfortunate for the youn man, the owner of the business across the street are also owners of the rental property and the owners will seek relief through the civil courts. 

It will be an expensive lesson for the young man.   

Before MLK

I grew up before there was a Martin Luther King, when blacks and whites lived separate lives in separate neighborhoods.  Back then I earned a good income for a kid without a steady job while in school by doing what others couldn't-or wouldn't. 

The south didn't have many unions and where I live there were absolutely none.  When a union truck came down on a Saturday night with a vital delivery, there was no way to get in unbloaded.  Of course
freight companies had normal sources of labor for these kind of jobs.  White workers were ususally employed and while it was much harder for non-whites to get a job, there was almost always a steady pool of the unemployed standing on the street corner to be grabbed by any company in need of a quick fix to a labor problem. 

But Saturday night was special affair.  No one wanted to work on Saturday night and everyone loved to party.  If a temp could be found he was usually drunk and unfit to work so when I came available I was often called out to unload a bale of cotton or a couple of boxes.  I usually made $20.00 for ten or fifteen minutes work.  I didn't even have to drive to work.  I was picked up and took home by a company executive.  $20.00 doesn't seem like muchbut the minimum wage back then was 90 cents an hour. 

What does this story have to do with MLK?  Nothings maybe or maybe a lot.  Actually the man that hired me to do the jobs was a neighbor and he knew me as a honest, hard working teenager who did a good job mowing grass and other odd jobs for people.  I was always dependable and available.  But what if equality was a way of life in the USA during this period of time rather than separate-but-equal?  This mans neighbor might have been a black kid or maybe the pool of day laborers would have been available on a Saturday night as these men would have had jobs and families to support and wouldn't have needed or wanted to slip off with a bottle of cheap booze to drown their sorrows.

If life had been what it should have been in American,   maybe someone who really needed this work to take care of himself or his family would have been available to do it.  Maybe the executive would not have had to assume that all blacks were drunk on Saturday night. 

I wonder, how does your attitude about the opposite race negatively influence the lives of others? 

ACC Football

ACC and Football should not be used together in a sentence.  Out of the entire conference only one or two teams were ranked in the top 25 teams in the nation and they didn't stay there for long.  Almost all ACC teams lost in their bowl games. 

In basketball it has not be unusual for 5 or eight teams to be ranked in the top twenty teams in the country from the ACC with one or two ranked in the top 5.  Florida was a national powerhouse before joining the ACC and now are just a typical ACC football school. 

Thant's okay.  I don't care for football all that much.  Too much standing around between plays and all those penalties are boring.  Foul shots is one of the reasons I hate basketball, but one has to admit, the ACC plays good basketball. 

I keep hoping Duke will win a football game.  One day they may win the National Championship in football.  And I could grow up to be president of the USA.  Heck, I might even grow up.     

Long Time

My niece, whom I raised as a daughter, wished me a Happy New Year.  That's not unusual for a niece to wish a family member Happy New Year except maybe in this case.  You see, I haven't seen her but once since she was ten years old and she is 26 now.  We did meet for lunch three or four months ago but she has ignored me since that day so it was a real surprise for me to hear from her again.

She has me confused.