Warren Buffet and I

Last year I paid no federal income tax.  Let me repeat that.  NO FEDERAL INCOME TAX.  None, nada, zip, zero, no federal income tax.

Should I be complaining?  Probably not; I am quite thankful for the relief.  Yet I continue to benefit from my federal government.  I don't think it should be for free.

Warren Buffett is a vocal one-percenter (hugely rich guy) who believes that he and his fellow top income folks should be willing to cough up more taxes than they are presently contributing.  Some of his fellows agree with him.  Many do not--understandably.

  
So Mr. Buffett and I have this in common.  I felt very strange not paying one cent of income tax.  I felt I should pay at least a token amount, as if doing so would dignify my participation in America.  Some of you will agree; others will not--understandably!

 
Who'd have thought Warren Buffet and I would have something this momentous in common?

Arpaio's Trials

From Doug MacEachern of the Arizona Republic in his 7/28/2012 "Quick Hit":

"No one expects a lot of magnanimity out of a protest group. They gotta do what they gotta do. Sometimes that means annoying innocent bystanders. But does the group planning to protest Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Sunday at his church services really need to? Short answer: No. Morally speaking, the right to worship undisturbed trumps any self-assigned duty to preen before cameras."

Here is my Quick Hit back to Mr. MacEachern:

I am remembering a Sunday several years ago when MCSO blocked access to St. Paul's (now Iglesia San Pablo) Episcopal Church on 31st Street in downtown Phoenix.  This church with a predominantly Spanish language congregation was targeted by Sheriff Arpaio to snare possible undocumented worshipers. 

I cannot be bothered to picket a church where Child-of-God Joseph Arpaio might worship, but at least he doesn't have to worry about being arrested and jailed.  

The Episcopal Church Welcomes You

The triennial convention of The Episcopal Church closed in Indianapolis.  Clergy and lay deputies and bishops are home again, home again.  And they are beginning to report their reflections by diocesan websites, blogs and social networking.  As I said earlier this month  I am drawn to observe this convention like a moth to a flame, but from a safe distance.

Over the past nine years TEC has struggled painfully to address ways of bringing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender children of God into the church's mainstream.  This struggle began in the 1970's as a very tentative movement.  I remember the (then) bishop of the Diocese of Nebraska reporting to members of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church that this very controversial topic had been brought up and that a resolution had called for committees to study the issues and make recommendations to the next convention three years hence.  He stumbled and stuttered in search of appropriate words for 'homosexuals'.  He spoke of sexual preference rather than orientation.  He did the best he could and when he asked if we had any questions or comments we remained still as church mice.

I remained silent although I could have said many things.  I was barely out to myself and my immediate family, and not at all to people at church.  As much as I claimed to be proud (or at least not ashamed), I could not bring myself to say, "I am one you will be studying for the next three years.  What would you like to ask me?"  Had every one of us in every church hearing this report had been able to speak up, the struggle might have been shorter.  Hard to say whether it would be less painful.  It was painful to be psychically silenced; it would have been painful to be attacked even verbally.  And that's the way it was in the early 1970's.

In the first decade of the twenty-first century, much had been accomplished in homes and businesses and schools.  Even much had been accomplished within some church denominations, most notably in the United Church of Christ.  TEC had moved forward at a grindingly slow pace at first, but in 2003 gay clergy were beginning to be accepted and V. Gene Robinson was elected and confirmed Bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire.  Bp. Gene was the first openly gay man to be consecrated in TEC.  He was required to wear a Kevlar vest at his consecration.  As you can see many bishops came to celebrate this 'first' for the Episcopal Church.

  

One enormous barrier down; one to go. The other shoe dropped with far less angst and drama at this year's convention.  From the Arizona Diocesan Delegation Rev. John Kitagawa reports:

While controversial, there was a strong majority supporting the decision to issue a liturgical rite for the blessing of same-sex relationships. That makes it possible for us to say with greater integrity, “The Episcopal Church Welcomes You.” I am pleased our Deputation was unanimous in our support. I believe new pastoral and evangelical possibilities are now open to our Church.

--The Rev. John E. Kitagawa, D. Min., Clergy Deputy

   

So after three years of more study, a committee will produce drafts of same-sex relationship blessings for consideration.  So it takes a long time to go from, "Oh, homosexuals?" to "The Episcopal Church welcomes you."

But it's been fascinating to watch the journey.  And the journey will continue.

For the Arizona Delegates' full report, click here.

Phoenix Writers Club

Bluewater Grill hosted the July 2012 meeting of the Phoenix Writers Club, and I had the pleasure of attending and catching up with members I knew six to seven years ago.  It surprises me that so many members have remained.  In addition to current president Cindi Reiss and treasurer Eileen Birin, BetteLou Tobin, Marge, Elaine, and Diane were there.  Missing were Mabel Leo, Patricia Brooks, Rita Ackerman and probably some others I've met before.  

It is July in Phoenix after all.  Anybody with a dime to spare and any sense flees the Valley.  So over the next few months I'll have the opportunity to get reacquainted with others.

Phoenix Writers Club has been active for over 80 years, one of the longest continuous groups in Arizona.  Though members like me may come and go, many are core stalwarts who carry forward PWC's goals.  The same welcome and encouragement was offered at today's meeting as was offered to me years ago.  Members encourage one another, share experiences with publishing as well as writing, and reach out to aspiring writers of all ages.

PWC's website has a tab labeled "Be A Writer".  What's the first piece of advice?  It tells me to say out loud, "I am a writer."  Thanks, Eileen; thanks PWC!

So here I am to say, 

"I am a writer."  

Doctors! What Are They Thinking?

Doctors don't seem to have the sense God gave a goose.

I am benefiting greatly from medical science thanks to having finally arrived at Medicare.  (And Medicare is a whole other *good* topic!)  Yet I cannot figure out some of my doctors' reasoning.  Even if I specifically ask for something I need, my wishes may as well be fishes.

I have a PA-C for my PCP (Primary Care Provider).  She has boundless common sense, listens to my wishes and actually does what I ask (unless it would be bad for me in which case she explains).  Need a referral to a specialist within bicycling distance?  No problem. Our neighborhood is full of all kind of specialists.  Want 90 day prescriptions?  No problem!

My previous MD doc's office interpreted 90 days as some drugs 30 days, some others 60 days and..oh yeah, some 90 days.  I was running to the pharmacy every month even though I'd have much preferred quarterly.  

Now I have a new specialist, a cardiologist, who needs to go in search of a brain.  First visit:  I give him a detailed list of my existing prescriptions.  He glances through it and sees I am on one cholesterol med and one ACE inhibitor-type blood pressure med.  Out loud he tells me he may want me to take a beta blocker-type bp med, but he won't know for sure until after my echo-cardiogram.  Sounds right to me, so I don't give him any static or advice about meds.

The next day, my pharmacy notifies me my two new prescriptions are ready for me.

What????

He had ordered an increased dosage of the ACE inhibitor and the same dosage of my cholesterol med.  No mention of this to me during the appointment at all.  I refused the cholesterol drug and declined to take the bp drug until my other prescription ran out.

I have advised this doc to not order any meds without discussing it with me first.  I won't know until next time whether this went through one ear and out the other or if the advice stuck.  I am not optimistic.  Not pessimistic either.  Just skeptical.

So now we have the echo results and I'm being prescribed the promised beta-blocker.  No problem.  He explains that I have a big aortic root, that the blood vessel that comes out of the heart to supply the rest of my body with oxygenated blood, is 4.0 cm in diameter.  This is, he tells me, the upper limit of normal.  Then he says I should be seen by a heart surgeon for evaluation.  I am skeptical and say so.  If it is the upper limit of normal, isn't that normal or close enough to normal?  He says, he couldn't sleep at night if he doesn't refer this case to a cardiovascular surgeon.  I reluctantly agree to accept an appointment, and remind his staff that I need a referral to a neighborhood doctor.  

A couple of days later I get a call from the office of a cardiovascular surgeon in *Goodyear*.

 What????

I did some simple research through the Arizona board of medical examiners (azmed.gov). I learned that there is a group practice of CV surgeons two floors downstairs from the cardiologist's office, one mile from my house.

Okay.  Call me peeved.

I'm not amused at the notion of CV surgery anyway.  I'll keep you posted. 

      

Sunday Night

I'm tired tonight, both physically and emotionally.

Many times in my life I've lived with other people, family, friends, lovers, and just visitors.  I'm pretty good at it.  But I've also lived alone quite a bit and that has advantages, too. I'm very happy with Jim living with me at this time.  I am finding that I have less tolerance for other social activities, no matter how much I expect to enjoy them.  

It is as if I have a threshold for the number of people contacts I can cope with in a given span of time without blowing a fatigue fuse.  And this weekend I passed over that threshold.  Tomorrow is likely to be a quiet day.  I have a meeting in the late morning with a friend after which we may go to a meeting with other friends of Bill W.  Other than that the day is unscheduled. 

And I am looking forward to that.  I may write.  I may exercise.  I may nap.  I will certainly enjoy a good meal or two.

And then again, God may have other plans.  Altogether now, hahahahahahahaa!

Independence Day 2012

Jim and I seated ourselves on our 'front porch' tonight to watch the City of Phoenix fireworks display at Steele Indian School Park, just less than a mile from us.  We armed ourselves with the 1812 Overture on my MP3 player and by some miracle firework crescendos sometimes matched the musical crescendos!  This was Sweetie's first year at 4112 and I wasn't sure how she would react to the noise and smoke and people.  Jim and I talked strategies in case fireworks made her crazy, but she was as serene as can be through the whole evening.

Before the official and fun fireworks we have neighborhood chaos from people looking for parking somewhat near the park.  Our side of the street is marked no parking for other reasons, and early birds correctly figure the police have more to do than ticket for parking.  What stuns us as we watch the parade of cars coming and going after the street is 100% parked up.  At the entrance to our street is a sign that most people just don't see:

This sign is small compared to the real one, but no one sees it or heeds it.

It is beyond my comprehension how many cars blithely ignore the obvious and return to try again even after they've tried it.  Done. Full.  People, we have no more room for you.  Fortunately this is the only occasion that causes this phenomenon.

To add to our pre-show chaos, a motor patrol officer stopped an offending vehicle right in front of our driveway.  There was the usual conversation,  exchange of paper and radio calls all while the motorbike's red and blue flashers were nearly blinding us.  Ticket or warning was given to the driver about five minutes into the fireworks, and we were cleared for a good view from then on.  This show runs about 30 minutes so we finally had an enjoyable time.  This could have been an image from ours.  Hat tip to the Cloverdale Lions Club for a better pic than I could get:

 Happy Independence Day, America.  We are doing better than we think we are.  As long as we learn the facts and turn up to vote, America will survive quite nicely.    

Like a Moth to the Flame

Every three years the Episcopal Church meets in national session for about 10 days, beginning this year on July 4th.  As a cradle member of this denomination I have a great affection for what the church can be for all people.  Yet I've come and gone and come and gone several times in my adult live.

TEC is one of the ideal churches in my thinking.  One can worship at a Eucharist nearly identical to the post Vatican II Roman Catholic Church, or one can worship at a simple 30-40 minute communion service not unlike other protestant churches.  I grew up singing a song that would now be labeled politically incorrect, but it said a lot about the breadth and depth of Episcopal beliefs (tune is God Bless America):

I am an Anglican; I am PE (Protestant Episcopal),

neither high church nor low church, 

I am protestant and catholic and free.

Not a Presby, nor a Lutheran, nor a Baptist

white with foam.....!*

I am an Anglican, via media, boom boom.

* with apologies to my friends of other denominations and religions

I love my church and a lot of folks in my church love me, but I don't seem to be able to deal with even this generous pastoral church.  That's about me, not about the Episcopal Church.

July 4th is day after tomorrow.  Like a moth drawn inexorably to the flame, I'll be watching the triennial struggles.  And praying for all who mean to do well for the work of our Creator, Redeemer, Teacher and Guide.  Prayers ascend!

I'm Just Full of It!

Full of vim, vigor, and vitality yesterday and today!

Yesterday I enjoyed the endorphin glow following a good session of physical therapy warm ups, stretches and exercises at the   YMCA...all together now...Y M C A...da dah, dah.  Today I am enjoying the sense of well-being I get from just visiting with a friend over good coffee.

It seems I am coming alive in a number of ways, in ways that I've needed but not accepted in the past couple of years.  I think it has to do with allowing other people into my life in more than an abstract way.  I'm happy to have Jim at home today.  I'm happy I'm taking better care of my health.  I'm happy that I'm meeting new people.  

Wow.  Life sure rocks when one lets people in!