3rd row stage left, one last time

It was Ronnie James Dio day in Los Angeles today, according to one of LA's councilmen. For now, you'll have to take my word for it. One could not wish for a more cloud-free and warm breezed day on which to have a memorial.

The Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills lent the use of its Liberty Hall auditorium for the memorial. As the 1,000 seat capacity was sure to not hold all of the friends, family and fans in attendance, additional seats were set up on the lawn to the north of the Hall. Even with me arriving 90 minutes before the memorial, I really wanted to be outside with the fans.

The presence of the group from Westboro was negligible:

The memorial, thankfully, took place as far from the entrance as possible. Greeting most every visitor was a big outdoor screen.

The attendees were a fairly broad cross-section of people. A few were grade-school or teen-aged. Many were closer to middle age (like me) and a few were Ronnie James' age.

I've never attended something like this in my life. Memorials and funerals, as far as I was concerned, were for family, friends and the occasional co-worker. What could a heavy metal fan like me get from going to something like this?

Honestly, I have been in a funk for the last couple of weeks. All of my usual ways of dealing with bad news had escaped me. Everytime I played a song of his, tears would well up and a lot more emotion than usual got thrown out with my voice as I sang along. In the interest of being there for others and for represent

ing the LGBT fan-base at the memorial, I finally decided yesterday to be there today.

I avoided the lines for a t-shirt. It was not for the sake of saving money; it was more about saving energy so I could sit outside as long as possible during the service. I wound up leaving the outdoor sitting area twice before 2 PM to find a patch of shade under which I could cool myself before returning to the bright beaming sunlight.

The memorial started shortly after 2 PM after an unusual five-song pre-memorial, pre-recorded set, only one of which including Dio's voice. Even then, his was only one of many.

Today's master of ceremonies, naturally, was Eddie Trunk. Even with the stories shared by many of his staff, friends and his son, I managed to stay for the first two hours of the memorial only. I didn't hear or see anything that I would not have guessed based on what I knew about Ronnie James Dio. It was fitting that many of the musicians he worked with in the past were there today to sing and play acoustic version of some of his best known/loved songs.

Nearly all sitting outside with me were also conserving strength and stamina in the first two hours of the memorial, with one notable exception -- the "mysterious" figure on the far left:

Every song was cause to walk as close the the big screen as possible and pose, headbang and flash the "evil eye" sign from all possible positions of the clock (above his head, to the sides, at 10 and 2, etc.).

A few snickers drifted from some who sat nearby me every time he drifted forward. I have to give this guy respect for keeping the hood on with all of the heat and sunlight shining down and getting into the spirit of tribute and celebration which the rest of us were just too sun-stroked to shake up.

I'd like to say the group gathering in front of me in the photo to the left were a bunch of somber mourners awaiting a turn at paying final respects. Sadly, they were swarmed around a poor official who was only trying to dole out commemorative "programs" to everyone. A relatively brief 30 minutes later or so, I was able to walk up to that poor hassled employee and happily be handed a program of my own. Again, nothing all that surprising to be found in the program itself; however, it is certainly another way of commemorating the day.

So, did going to the memorial today change anything? After about 3 1/2 hours in the bright, breezy sun, I pretty much had the melancholy melted out of me. There were promises made to permit those sitting outside to come inside and pay "final respects" to Dio after the memorial was over.

Any leftover remnants of childhood mania over metal were sweated out today. I cannot say that, once recovered from today's dehydration, I'll never again get ramped up over a crazy, fast-beaten, loudly-cranked tune. I can say that, as we all grow older, that the passing of the next heavy metal icon should not come as such a shock to me.

Though I'm quite happy to keep that day as far off in the future as possible.

** brrrrrzzzzzzhhhhh **

Lots of loud roaring and screeching was heard all through the afternoon on the Boulevard. Oh, and there were all sorts of indy-style and drifting cars doing their thing for fans gearing up for this weekend's Long Beach Grand Prix.

The cars looked cool. The fans enjoyed the show. And the Boulevard was once again home to something truly unique. And loud. And smoky.

Did I mention loud?

What made today's experience unique for me

Today was my second time attending a pro-peace rally/march in Hollywood. The march route was a bit shorter than last year (no pass-by the CNN building on Sunset Blvd.); however, the number of participants remained unchanged from last year. At least, as far as I could see by walking around the people before and during the march.

The variety of groups represented were the same (click here for the photos), but I only got three handouts this time around. I missed not seeing last year's lone anti-march protester -- but only a little. And, truth be told, the pre-march rally and most of the march itself felt a little bit like routine.

Until we stopped just before Hollywood Blvd. and Highland Ave.

Ron Kovic addressed the march at that point in the route and wanted those "within the sound of (his) voice" to sit down where they stood - whether in the middle of the Boulevard or on the sidewalk (I split the difference and sat on the curb). About one hundred people or so heard the instruction and sat (see the 2nd and 3rd to last photos in the collection) for about 5 minutes. The mood of the march changed from "oh, we're doing this again . . " to "Oh. This is something new!"

This motion felt something like hitting a reset button for the march. As we crossed Highland Ave. and started into the crowd of weekend tourists milling around, the chanting got louder and more passionate, the sign waving got a little more frenzied and, perhaps feeding on the spectator's energy, the march felt revitalized.

I only wished I did. Getting a little low on blood sugar and feeling an achy lower back from the hours of standing, marching, etc., I headed back to the Metro stop and home.

So, instead of being the minister last year, I received a dose of ministering today. I pray others received a dose of that as well.

T minus six nights

As we get closer to the big award show Sunday night on the Boulevard, the preparations are in full swing. Either that or there's a Grand Prix planned for Hollywood. I didn't even realize that a temporary pedestrian bridge is installed to catch the overhead camera shots for the arrivals, but you can see what it looks like in this shot from late today:

Chain link fence now lines the north and south sides of the Boulevard and the organizers are preparing for possible rain showers on Sunday by installing clear plastic roofs.

And, if the slow creep of transformation from busy street to sidewalk theatre was not enough, there's a new controversy at the corner of Hollywood and Highland:

Look in the distance for the red, orange and yellow circle with the blue background for the newest "supergraphic" billboard. The advertisement doesn't move, sing or smell -- it's static. Compared to the lit up, in-motion billboards now cropping up around highways and main thoroughfares, this billboard-on-steroids is just one of many in the area. And yet, the building's owner found himself with a $1,000,000.00 bail!

If I may suggest, perhaps taking a second look at the tacky, busy street-corner strip malls whose garishness begs for arrests and big fines, if only to tone down the mish-mash of color and traffic-snarling overload of signage:

The countdown begins!

The Boulevard is slowly gearing up for an award show on Sunday March 7. Today's new roll out was metal barricades with security posted here and there along the barricades.

As we get closer to the Big Night, the closures get a little bit bigger. This is my first time navigating the Boulevard during this time of the year and I'm quite happy to keep you posted on how things are going. Enjoy the pics!

More rainbows

Another southern California storm and another late-day great big rainbow over the Boulevard.

There have been a few stories that borrow from the principal of the rainbow -- the very picture of the beginnings of light shining through a dark and stormy scene.

First, Lt. Dan Choi, who has put a face on the fight to repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy within our military, was able to drill with his unit (no laughing, please) recently. While it's not the bright, shimmering rainbow one would hope for, I'll take anything that leads toward a repeal of this absurd policy.

Another survivor was pulled from the rubble yesterday in Port-au-Prince and the man is still recovering. That would make him having survived, somehow, for 27 days. And, life goes on in that nation. If it only took sheer willpower and spirit to recover from last month's earthquake, Haitians would have already rebuilt their country and thrown a city-wide party this past weekend. Still, their needs will change in the coming weeks and months, so I'll keep the Red Cross link posted at the top. If you've been fortunate to find extra money or you're being blessed with a tax refund, a few extra dollars donated to the Red Cross or any of the other organizations who are trying to help will still go a long way.

The slowly growing rays of sunshine seem to be piercing even the darkest clouds in our nation's capitol. The President chatted with the press earlier today about his meeting with Legislators from both major parties to see what sorts of bills could be crafted to provide more help to those in need of a job and businesses who may want to hire but think they cannot afford to do so. I'm a little hazy on when, if at all, President GW Bush had done the same sort of thing in the last couple of years of his presidency. So, even if only a couple of things are worked out this week creating even the smallest movement forward toward recovery, it won't be due to a lack of effort to get both sides to work together by the President.

For liberals like me and, I'm sure, a health number of conservatives, the changes aren't coming often and fast enough. As much as I'd like to think one post written on one blog would be all that's needed to make everything come together, I'm a bit more realistic about those chances.

Then again, to get the strongest looking rainbow, you need a hard rain, dark cloudy skies on one side and bright sunlight on the other.

Opportunity at the Metro stop

(from my iPhone about 5:35 pm)

I've been waiting 20 minutes at what is usually no more than a ten minute wait for Red line. Apparently, there is some 'maintenance issue' so trains running in both directions have to share one track. It's the first delay of this sort in months. Instead of walking to the next stop after a leisurely supper in downtown LA, I'm listening to a live announcer tell me it's only a 3 minute wait for the next train going my way.

As the 4th train going the other way stops then opens its doors with its passengers staring blankly through the huddled masses waiting along with me.

I'd be grateful for the long break if it wasn't for the four trains stopping in front of me going the other way.

I must be out of my everloving mind! The train going my way is here but too crammed! Another disconnected voice saying another one is coming in 5 minutes. Well, at least the crowd has thinned out.

(and, the next train was considerably less crowded. I wound up getting home 40 minutes later than usual. Still, it makes me wonder if maybe blogging, unlike songwriting or a lunch break, isn't something better done at home with the TV on and my partner engaging me in conversation)

What the hail?

Ooh, I've been waiting so long to say that!

It's not rock salt or my personal stash of diamonds cubic zirconia strewn on the ground and photographed at night for maximum visual effect. I "got lucky" being in LaHabra for a haircut earlier this evening when a teeny, tiny yet strong cell of heavy rain/lightning/thunder passed by and created a small hailstorm. I'm having so much fun documenting the wacky state of weather in Southern California, I'm almost forgetting all about the state of politics in the Supreme Court, the Congress and the White House.

Almost.

Another good soaking

And, we still have a day or two more of this cold water dripping from the sky. How does everyone else in the U.S. manage this much water all at once? Here's some photos from the Boulevard neighborhood showing how the cars driving down Franklin Ave. were handling standing water in a decent downpour in the middle of the afternoon. . .

Even a set of stairs leading up to an apartment house was sort of getting into the act.

I have to admit I am having a lot of fun just walking in the rain. We don't get a lot of it here in southern California, so when it happens, I find a safe place to be and try to get outside for walks as often as I can.

The sunshine returns by late Friday. Hoping for some more unique rain-soaked photos tomorrow.

Neither rain, nor sleet, etc.

The slogan is, for the most part, true of the US Postal Service. It's also true of the folks who set up the front of Graumann's for a World Premiere movie earlier this evening.


The layer of clear plastic with the white, nearly vertical lines at the bottom of the picture shows the top of the tents that were pitched as I was walking to work today.

By lunchtime, everything was nearly set up. The title of tonight's movie (see the banner-style poster on the lower left corner) which is being shown tonight is a pretty apt description of the effort it takes to set up a Red Carpet affair even in the rare L.A. rainstorm.

And, I suppose, a good description of the movie's plot. Whatever.

Cold water falling from the sky

v0x5

Well, it almost never rains 'round here . . .

My water-resistant jacket barely worked this afternoon. The winds were spraying around the water, making the Boulevard look more like the middle of a mild hurricane or the aftermath of a large structure fire (rivers of water, every wall and floor sopping wet, etc.). See for yourself:

Above: looking across the street at the Jimmy Kimmel Live building

Below: a view of Graumann's Chinese

It rains hard enough for long enough, you might as well pack a couple of oars in the backseat of the car. And, there's more rain on the way this week.

Rays of sunshine on the Boulevard today

When I stepped out of my cubicle and onto Hollywood Boulevard late this morning to take one of three brisk-paced walks I take each day to clear the cobwebs out of my head, I was greeted at the corner by a young woman (who is hidden behind the folks standing at the sidewalk's edge) with a bright orange flyer full of talking points.

The photo I snapped of the 10 or so young people from across the street doesn't give the best view of all of their homemade signs. You might make out the partial phrase on a bright blue poster board saying "HoNK 4" or the green letters on black background to the far right reading "Stop Ha . .".

These folks had chosen a popular intersection to try raising awareness and to get some horns a-honking in support of defeating legislation pending in Uganda to make homosexuality a crime with much more severe penalties. The bright orange flyer I received pointed out on the bottom that the punishment of death for engaging in homosexual behavior had since been modified "..because of immense international disapproval."

Sadly, the bright orange flyer had no website referenced and, thanks to my superior(?) storage skills, the flyer just could not be scanned so I could post it here. However, one of our local papers did post a brief "story" about today's mini-rally, so I could tell that the students who gathered this morning made quite a trek to get to Hollywood this morning.

As horns from cars, trucks and tour buses blasted off in support of the student gathering and I continued on my quick walk after snapping the photo above, I had to bite the inside of my lip a bit to stop from crying a bit. It gets way too easy to sink into cynicism over how apathetic we as a country seem to others in need outside of the U.S. There are certainly plenty of places and people here which could use our attention, but it is far too easy to think that just one person cannot make any difference, so why bother?

I can tell you ten teenagers made a difference in my life. If only for today. Anyone's guess who else might have noticed this happening today as well.

On the boulevard today

Starting, I'm sure, before dawn today and continuing up to and through the time I post this, Hollywood Boulevard was shut down between Highland Ave and Orange Ave for a premiere screening of a much anticipated new movie being released everywhere on Friday. Perhaps you can see what the movie is from my pics?

Late this morning, a new star was officially unveiled on the Boulevard as well, timed to match with the release this Friday of a new movie in which this actress stars. Glitz, glamor and business meet and swirl like soft-serve ice cream around here.

Meanwhile today, tempers flared a bit with the health care/insurance reform bill process. As someone who isn't a politician, I am well past the temper and am content to just grumble to myself over all of the . . well, politicking . . over something which directly affects people's lives -- no hyperbole here.

Waiting for a bus

I had an interesting start to an otherwise routine Monday.

Metro in Los Angeles had a portion of their light rail service closed all along Washington Blvd. for the weekend. The closure was due to end last evening. As what sometimes with any construction, it went a bit past schedule.

The light rail I ride stopped at the Washington Blvd. stop, everyone disembarked and slowly started to queue for Metro buses which arrived every few minutes to pick up commuters from across the street from the stop, then shuttled through four remaining stops in the route.

I could use this forum to grouse about the construction delays, the bumpy bus ride, the 30 minute wait on my still recuperating legs (never mind the rest of the walk and ride to work after the bus trip with stiff joints and sore thigh muscles).

or

I'll write about the mass of humanity shuffling along while others skipped ahead of the queue by skipping into the street only to be abruptly placed back into line by one of the many Sheriff's Deputies keeping the foot and motor traffic running.

I met two teachers while waiting for the bus: one an ESL teacher of adults and the other a literature teacher of high school juniors. We and others around us kept reminding each other that it could be colder outside, it could still be prior to sunrise, it could have been raining.

A large black bird on top of a telephone pole squawking, ruffling its back feathers was causing the crowd around the pole scattering in different directions and the bird was having its . . uh . . morning constitutional.

Each comment, each turn around to view the crowd in front of us and the never-ending mass of commuters from more arriving trains, every wisecrack and passing catering truck with cruel promises of hot coffee on a cold fall morning, elicited laughs, giggles, snorts (from me - freaking deviated septum!) and a far more relaxed atmosphere than it could have been.

So, I got to work 45 minutes late today. I took some comfort that a few thousand others were in the same figurative boat as I was and was grateful to God for all the ways a potential disaster was turned into a chance to interact with fellow commuters and find the basic goodness in most everyone.

2009 World AIDS Day 2009 in Whittier California

My apologies for the long break in between postings. With the ebbing and flowing of politics in Washington D.C over health insurance reform and everyone with an educated opinion (and some without) guessing how the Bill will look and whether or not it will pass through Congress, it's a bit easier to just find a nice large piece of driftwood and watch the show.

It's virtually impossible to let a day go by without health on anyone's mind. I am certainly no exception.

One of my employers was kind enough to extend to me an immunization shot for Influenza A & B early last month. Even with this precaution, I managed to still pick up an intestinal virus this past weekend that had me .. uh .. occupied .. for much of this past week. Even as I type this, some of the muscles in my legs were weakened enough that I've had to walk with a cane for the first time in my life. Blessedly, as each day passes, my strength returns.

My employer gave me the paid time off so that I could rest. I have health insurance so I could see the doctor who could figure out what was wrong with me and give me the go-ahead to indulge in a sugary sports drink to rehydrate. Then, with the prescription benefit I have with my employer, I was able to get some anti-nausea medication and recuperate my waning appetite.

Too many of us in this country are not as fortunate as I am. Whether the legislation in the works will give more of us access to the kind of coverage I have is out of my hands.

Here is what I can do:

A week from Tuesday is World AIDS Day. Remembrances, red ribbons and other events are planned for that day and an event near you may be listed by clicking here. (dates are listed European style, meaning day/month/year). I will be at this memorial service:

Good Samaritan Metropolitan Community Church (click for address & directions)

Tuesday December 1, 2009

Service starts at 7 pm. Please bring a photo of someone who has died from AIDS and/or who is battling with this disease and has inspired you.

No matter whether people gather at a place of worship, a community center and/or process through their town holding lit candles, there is no observance too small to make a difference to someone. With few exceptions, I am at a World AIDS Day services/marches/observance each year. Unlike most my age, I have only lost person I loved to AIDS. Like most who are younger than me, I know so many more friends who live with the virus every day and stories of survival with HIV of 10, 15 or even more than 20 years are becoming the norm.

Though my loss came at a time when AIDS was a "death sentence", December 1st brings the feelings up as if it just happened. It helps me to be with others who know how this feels and maybe provides some comfort to someone else there.

If I am fortunate to live long enough and we are smart and hard working enough, I look forward to the day when World AIDS days are mentioned in history books.

Until then, I hope to see you on Tuesday, December 1.

It took this to get me to write again

I was checking out the top of Malloy's program earlier tonight and he was talking about the opinion piece (well sourced, btw) from truthout.org regarding how children of military families these days are handling one of their parents being deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. I won't rehash Ms. Bannerman's article as it's already easy to understand and the questions asked should be obvious to anyone.

Maybe because my father was in the military while I was growing up, I'm presuming that everyone should feel the same as I do. My father did go to war; however, I was a little infant at the time, so the trauma wasn't so profoundly felt -- unless you count hearing stories about how adorable I was walking around in the dry heat of the desert southwest in only a diaper as my mother took care of the laundry at the local laundromat.

Silly aside, I could not imagine how a child must feel knowing mom or dad is halfway around the world for the next 12 months or longer with no guarantee of quick visits around the holidays. And, with my father having to take frequent, sometimes weeks at a stretch, temporary duty assignments, at Uncle Sam's behest, phone calls and postcards (this was the 70's and early 80's, mind you) just don't fill the gap completely. Nor, I'm sure, would a video or audio call or any frequency of e-mails from the front.

But even the opinion piece would not have fired me hot enough to write. Not until the start of the last leg of my commute home tonight. My apologies again for the poor photography:

For the first time since I began riding the Metro light rails earlier this year, there was a table set up at the bottom right of the stairs which connect one rail line with the other. While I carry a satchel containing sunglasses, the iPhone . . oh, to hell with it -- it's a small purse, I narrowly escaped the random bag searches being conducted this evening. I was not aware of any specific threat toward public transportation, unless you consider how many folks are using public transportation while being sick with something (yes, hand sanitizer is in my purse, but it only works when it's used and too much use just looks pretentious. Besides, I got my flu shots on Friday, so I can look reasonably cool on the train and use the sanitizer sparingly.

Keeping in mind that my (ugh) purse would have been tossed about at any major airport should I have chosen to fly to work today, I suppose I should not have been so jarred by the mere presence of the Sheriff's department's presence tonight.

Perhaps I should save my indignant attitude for another night where the Deputies bring in the dogs to sniff around? Or maybe practice a little deep breathing and relax until they start patting random passengers down?

The only question to ask is: did I feel safer tonight because of the random bag search? If the random pieces of contraband (I haven't a clue for what exactly the Deputies were searching) taken and the odd passenger was whisked away in cuffs this evening because of this, I'd say this was a colossal waste of time. If, however, there was another motive to the random searches . . .

Nah, still a waste of time. And, the deep breathing ain't working.

Yet another weighty matter . . .

Sitting in the middle of Hollywood Blvd earlier this evening was a great big crane with a basket attached to the end. I don't think the writing on the basket shows very well, so I'll let you know that Jimmy Kimmel Live! is written all over the side. It airs way past my bedtime, I'm afraid - maybe I can catch it somewhere on line to see where the basket was placed in the show.

Sometimes, it not the big things that catch my eye.  Sometimes, just a simple traffic snarl will do it for me.

Open Letter to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

I'm a novice at this sort of communication, sir, so please bear with me if the form and tone are not in line with what you would expect from one of your constituents.

You have recently begun running ads on television asking us to "stand for California" and balance our state's budget without raising taxes.  Your Dream Team has apparently raised enough money to film the ad and found ways to get them aired throughout the state.  Why not spend a little bit of money up front if it stands a chance of saving a lot of money and balancing a budget?

When it comes to budgets, most every adult in California understands the basics of maintaining a budget.  You start with figuring out how much money you have coming in to your household, then subtract from that income each of one's monthly expenses.  The goal would be to spend less than one earns so one has a little bit of savings left each month for unexpected expenses or, if one is really good at maintaining a budget, have money saved for retirement (outside of Social Security and 401(k) plans) and/or money to put one's children through college.

Sadly, many Californians are spending more on their expenses.  More and more of us are trying desperately to hang on to whatever savings we have and we're buying fewer and fewer items to do so.

I picked up a copy of today's LA Times -- $2 for the Sunday Times and the chance at finding grocery coupons for items I buy thus saving $10 or $15 at the grocery store on my next visit -- and on the front page was an article that hinted at all sorts of programs that provide services to our state's elderly and disabled population were in jeopardy of being cut.

Even this move, I understand.  If you drop the state's In Home Support Services program you stand to save a good chunk of change.  In Los Angeles County, the last estimate I heard was 70,000 people work for In Home Support Services.  I work nearly 190 hours a month (with no overtime, vacation or sick pay) for a net paycheck of $1500 per month (and, yes, taxes are taken out of my check as they are the paychecks of my fellow workers).  I'll let you do the math to figure out just how much per hour it costs to employee me to care for my partner at home.

Most of my fellow IHSS workers pick up less than my 190 hours.  Using a conservative estimate of 140 hours a month, the state could save around $100 million a month in Los Angeles County alone, roughly.  What wonderful news!

Every year, statewide, billions are saved.  Why, you may have practically solved the budget crisis all on your own!

Oh, but now what to do with those folks in California who now do not have In Home Support Services?  Surely every last one of these people has some relative with which they can live and those relatives can surely switch from full to part time work, or just quit working altogether, to stay home and take care of these people.  I'm sure somehow these relative's health care will be covered and their 401(k) plans will continue to grow to assure them of a safe and secure retirement.

Here's where the math gets a bit more fuzzy.  

In my many encounters with my union, SEIU 434-B, I find that the vast majority of my fellow IHSS workers are Latina and speak just enough English to get by.  Does this mean that their clients are also of Mexican and/or Central and/or South American descent and all of these women are selflessly caring for elderly or disabled adults in their own families?

I talked with one woman to find out what her experience as an IHSS worker was. She split her time between three clients because no one client offered enough hours to cover the worker's expenses.  She drove a very much used station wagon to go between her three clients and was just barely meeting her financial obligations.  It seemed very unlikely that her clients were also relatives of hers.

Truth is, Governor, a good number of these elderly and/or disabled constituents (and they vote, too.  They have lots of time on their hands to make calls to other Californians to encourage them to stand with you or whatever their consciousness drives them to do as far as politics) do not have relatives who can spare the time to care for them.  Some do not even have surviving relations.

As these people need several hours a day of assistance, usually with housework, dressing, bathing, running errands, going to the doctors, paying bills, etc., these people without independently wealthy relatives who can drop everything for years at a time and selflessly give of their time are on their own.  They stand little chance of remaining in their own homes and apartments and will likely need to find a place at an assisted living center or nursing home.

So, how much can one expect to pay on average for a month's stay at one of these group places?  Perhaps having all of these elderly and disabled folks all in the same place will lower the per person cost of caring for them.  Much as would apply, I'd expect, for our state's prison population.  I'm sure the prisons are ridiculously cheap to keep open and fill.  Perhaps the LA Times article from today's paper has the per prisoner per day cost of $120 well overestimated.

By the way, perhaps us displaced IHSS workers could take over for properly trained and educated corrections officers at the prisons.  My 8 hour shift there would earn me $64 a day, or just under $1300 a month.  I'm sure that's quite a bit less than what a corrections officer makes in a state prison.  More savings!  It feels like I'm shopping at a going out of business sale !!

Now, about those elderly and disabled who have no one who will care for them.  I'm sure any openings now available at assisted living and nursing homes will be readily filled.  Perhaps more of them need to be built, creating more construction jobs.  Oh, boy, I can now see why every June and July our Legislature usually pull all-nighters in Sacramento. This sort of shuffling of budgets and staffing gets quite addictive.

Now, how much will these elderly and disabled, who I'm sure are making more money than I am now as an IHSS worker or why else would they be in their own homes and have someone like me helping them out, need to shell out on average to one of these facilities?

Oh.  Past 100 days at a nursing home and those cash-heavy elderly and disabled may be out of luck for continued care.  What about going with assisted living for those who just need that few hours of help a day?

Hmm.  $5,000 per month for living in what is basically a hotel/boarding school style home with no home cooking and that whole "who's going to die today" vibe most get just walking in through the front door of a place like this VERSUS $1500 a month for more hours of care (40 a week per person compared to ?? hours at one of these facilities).

Is $5000 still more than $1500 in the language of our state's upcoming budget?

Now, I'm one of those few IHSS workers who has a Bachelor's degree.  Mine happens to be in Business Management.  It was about 20 years ago since I graduated, but from what I can recall it is probably not the wisest business move to stop spending $1150 per month (on average) per worker so that you spend $5000 a month housing half of those people affected by the loss of IHSS workers.

While my rather silly idea of replacing Corrections officers with IHSS workers will undoubtedly save a lot of money, unless the prisoners need assistance with feeding, bathing and dispensing medication, there's bound to be . . . uh . . a rough transitional period at first.

Governor, I am well familiar with the tricks / techniques of negotiation and am pretty sure all of this blustering is just to scare the Legislature into finding creative solutions to our budget crisis.

May I propose something we could do to help prevent future budget impasses?  It's not a new idea; however, instead of trying to get two out of every three legislators to agree on something as monumental as a budget, we try getting just 51% of legislators to agree on a budget plan.  When you think about it in terms of a typical family, the family budget is usually the responsibility of just one of the adults in the family.  Some of my worst arguments with my partner is about our family budget, and there are only the two of us with a say in it.  Could you imagine if every family had to get two out of three adults in the same house to agree on a budget?

Exactly. 

By the way, if you feel the need to threaten total elimination of programs which provide some assistance to those who cannot assist themselves, please consider most these people each have a vote.  They also have nothing but time to make calls to their friends, neighbors and as many others as they can to remind them what having someone with your political philosophy may mean to them personally in the future.  More and more people are living longer and more of the disabled are now living independently with just a few hours of assistance per day.

This is not a constituency whose numbers will dwindle in numbers any time soon.  Please listen to their voices and read their words in the coming days and do what you feel in your heart is the right thing.

Sincerely,

"metalhead39"  

Soul saving and spleen-venting at home

At a busy intersection nearby home, there were some folks carrying big yellow and black signs on the four corners.  Here's one of the signholders who cannot wait to get across the street to join the rest of the signholders:

I'm O.K. with the "saving commuters' souls" vibe.  It's even a fun distraction from the usual drone of car and truck motors. I just wish I could've gotten a look at the church who was sponsoring the signs.  Even when I could see all of the signs there was no mention of a website, a church name or even a phone number!

Advertising is good.  Good advertising is even better!

Meanwhile, at home, we are blessed to have only received one I.O.U last week - for my partner's State Supplemental Income check.  Granted, it only makes up a small amount of our monthly income, but getting an I.O.U. was a little nerve-wrecking and having that check's value go down 30% in two months was a bit depressing.

In a bit of desperation, he called the L.A. Times earlier today and vented at them.  I had to gently remind him that, while I'm sure the L.A. Times could always use a lead to a potentially good story, they are not yet in charge of Legislation and Budgets in California.  So, after a quick on-line search, I found our district's Assemblyperson (it's like a House of Representatives member is for the U.S) and our district's state Senator.

Boy, are they going to get an earful tomorrow!

One weekend later

Well, I had little to worry about today as far as the Boulevard was concerned.  There was even rumors of summer-like weather starting today.  This didn't come to pass -- a cool breeze blew up and down the Boulevard all day.  Someone was thoughtful enough to set up the metal gates so visitors could queue up on the left and passers by could walk more quickly on the right.

or, I suppose, somewhere for someone to leave a dog while the someone went who knows where.

I'll let the rest of these photos speak for themselves.  Though the scale is hardly comparable, I kept flashing back to 1997 and the expressions of grief and support over the passing of Princess Diana.

I'll see how long this continues and, if anything changes, I'll take out the cell phone camera and . . uh, that sounds a little more like a threat.  Or, maybe I'm being too hard on myself?

What the pictures may not capture is that, in spite of the t-shirt, button, flowers, concert photo book-styled publications being sold, there was a genuine feeling of visitors walking past a body lying in state on the Boulevard.

With the recent deaths of well-known infomercial king Billy Mays and impressionist Fred Travalena, it's enough to throw anyone off balance.  Even I, who has a pretty even-keel philosophy on life and death, am not sure what to make of all of this.

While I chew on that, I suppose I need to dip my toe back into all things political.  Slowly.