The Crab Chronicles

Catching Up

I just realized I haven't posted all week, and anyone who knows me might be wondering what I've been up to. Life is very busy of late, but in a good way. So here's a rundown of my recent activities, and a few observations.

I hate shopping in malls and even in big stores like Target, so on Monday I did 95% of my Christmas shopping, online. The packages have already started arriving and I've spent a fair amount of time getting things wrapped and under the tree. This always includes a hunt for all the wrapping paper, tissues, and bows from last year. This year it was also vitally important to get presents under the tree because Lola likes to walk under it.

The tree is right in front of french doors in the family room, and Lola's favorite activity is sitting in front of those doors, looking for people walking down the street that she can bark at. One day I heard her barking and went over and Michael was walking in. Lola was directly under the tree and her tail was wagging furiously - and all I could see was the tail in the tree, threatening some glass ornaments with imminent destruction..

Now, there are enough presents that she is not trying to walk directly under the tree any more. I did leave her a spot where she can still sit in front of the french doors and look out at the street.

Last Monday and Tuesday were mainly spent calling every rental car place on this end of town, trying to find Michael a rental car. Since it was the end of the holiday weekend, most places didn't have any economy cars in and it wasn't until late Tuesday afternoon we found Mike a car. It was at a Hertz place in Buckhead. That's about 15-20 minutes from my house. We got there and got him in the car, then had to fight HORRIBLE traffic to get home. Took me 90+ minutes and I had to stop and use the potty at Target. I've not been working an office job in almost a year so I had forgotten the commute ordeal. It was so awful I came home and wrote a short story about it.

Michael's car is a Kia and it's a color the clerk called "gold." I would characterize it more as "burnt pumpkin."

Michael had finals at school on Monday and Wednesday and I helped him study.

The other big thing I accomplished this week was getting Michael registered for next semester. He is again just taking two classes, but he is also working and I don't want him to feel overwhelmed. He's not keen on college, yet, and I keep praying something will ignite a spark in him and make him WANT to learn. He's taking Intro. to Psychology, which is something he's very interested in, and basic Russian. Hopefully he will enjoy both classes.

He decided last night that it would be fun to basically shave his head. Not just a short buzz, SHAVED. Looks like he just started basic training. I argued against it, but he was determined. Told him he will just wind up wearing a lot of HATS all winter..

A Final Thought...

The shooting in California is a tragedy, but unlike most of the politicians I don't think there are any easy solutions. In general, I am against the idea that more gun control is needed. However, I was disgusted by Republicans Block Two Gun Control Measures. If someone is on a terror watch list, of course they shouldn't be able to legally buy guns. Jeez Louise that's a no-brainer. However, the sad situation in our country is that the solutions to mass shootings aren't easy. We need better mental healthcare. We need to involuntarily commit people without the ACLU going nuts about it. We need to restrict radical Muslims from living here, which is very hard to do. We also need to arm ourselves, because criminals and crazy people don't obey gun laws. It's a complex problem.

 

Dear Mr. Zuckerberg

I was reading that the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, is getting ready to donate a lot of money to charity in the coming years. I'm sure this is going to be interesting to watch. The article says that:

"Mr. Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, said they were forming a new organization, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, to manage the money, through an unusual limited liability corporate structure. “Our initial areas of focus will be personalized learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities,” they wrote."

I know there will be tons of people clamoring for this money.

I have a proposition, though.

There is one simple way to really ensure that the money will truly impact the future, and it's very simple: give all the money to children and mental health.

No child in America should go to bed hungry. No child should get a substandard education. No child should do without adequate mental health services. No child should get pregnant at 13 or 14 and have a baby that's going to live in poverty and do the same thing in 13 or 14 years.

There are thousands of children in the foster care system in the USA and many of them will grow up to populate our prisons. That cycle needs to end.

Every child that wants to go to college should be able to go, regardless of cost. If they cannot do college work they should get remedial help.

Should the government be doing this, instead of private charities? Sure, but the government is too much about power, and it's utterly corrupt.

If we invest in children, who will shape the future, we invest in ourselves. We invest in our descendants. We put human lives ahead of all else, as it should be.

 

So much of the violence in our society stems from people who are mentally ill, and we have closed down most of the mental hospitals in America. We wonder why there are so many shootings. It's not the guns. It's the mental illness. Sane people do not commit mass shootings. We need treatment options. We need places where people can be put away but treated with compassion -- not the horrors of old-time mental hospitals.

How bad is it? According to Mental Health America:

"The numbers are alarming: Over 42 million adults suffer from a mental health problem, with over eight million reporting suicidal thoughts. Over eight million adults suffer from a mental illness and are uninsured, and one out of every three adults with a disability report inability to see a doctor due to costs. Additionally, over six million children suffer from an Emotional, Behavioral, or Developmental (EBD) problem, and more than eight percent of youth have attempted suicide. Young females are twice as likely to attempt suicide as compared to teenage males, and one out of every three families report that their child’s insurance was inadequate."

 

If we can solve these two problems, Mr. Zuckerberg, or at least make significant inroads, there will be a lot less suffering in America and the future will be much brighter. These problems cannot be fixed with a legislative bandaid, though. We need real help for the long-term.