Saturday, 02 April 2011

      . . .But  I'm going to try to express my thoughts. I have read some of the comments on Twitter, I have read some of the comments made on Facebook, and I have even read the blog posts sometimes. And the thing that keeps coming into my mind is "you're insulting"

     I realize that you don't like some of the people I like. I also realize you don't like some of the people that I don't care one way or another about.

     When you make some of the comments you've made, you insult me. I know you didn't make the comment towards me and you weren't talking about me. Yet the way I interpret some of your comments they were very insulting to me.

     I grew up on a farm. Worked alongside my Dad, with my Dad, and under my Dad's direction. I also worked for some other farmers that lived nearby. And they all taught me well. By the time I was a teenager, I could look at a field and tell when it was time to cut hay. I could look at a cow and give you a pretty good estimate on how soon you needed to start a "close watch" on her. I could look at a sow and tell when she was getting close to farrowing. And I could look in our pig feeder and figure out when we were going to need to grind some more feed.

     When my Dad had to go into the hospital when I was 16, our farm didn't fall apart. The sows and pigs got fed, the cows and calves got checked, the chickens got fed, the eggs were collected. Dad was in the hospital for 3 days and when he got out, everything was pretty much as it was when he left. We had a couple of cows that had calved, the calves had been weighed and ear tagged and the information recorded in the appropriate place. Dad was absent for 3 days, my brother and I knew what needed to be done and we did it. No big deal.

     When I was 24, I wasn't working on the farm too much then. I had a full time job working in a factory on 3rd shift. I was taking 15 hours of classes at the local community college. My role on the farm for the last year had been to assist Dad when he NEEDED help. Like when he wanted to get up cows to sort calves and wean them, or when he wanted to wean pigs off the sows. Moving weaning pigs from the farrowing crates to the platform outside. or moving the pigs from the platform to the other farm where they were being fed out to market weight. During planting and harvesting. The everyday things that go into keeping a farm going didn't require my assistance and Dad didn't ask for help.

     Then in the middle of February my Dad went into the hospital with chest pains. Serious chest pains. Mom took him to the hospital on Sunday evening and they transferred him to another hospital by ambulance. Monday they ran tests on him and I tended the cows and the pigs, then went to my classes. Tuesday morning, they started a quadruple bypass an hour before I got off work. I took care of the farm animals and went to my classes. I finally made it to the hospital to visit Dad on Thursday.  B.I.G.T.I.M.E. changes for me.

     For the 6 weeks that he was recovering from the bypasses my schedule looked like this. MWF 8:15-9:30 tend to farm 10-11 class 12-1 class 2-3 class 3:30-6 tend to farm 6-10 sleep 10-12 check sows and cows and get to 12-8 AM work. TTH work on farm 8:15AM-2PM tend to farm 2-5 sleep 5-6 feed sows- get to school. 6-9 class. 9:30-10:30 nap 10:30-12 check sows and cow then get to 12-8 AM work. 2 weeks into that schedule, 6 of the 8 sows that were supposed to have been bred right before Dad went into the hospital, came into heat again. So I loaded Dad up in the pickup and we went looking for some new boars(didn't tell Mom because she didn't want Dad anywhere past the yard). Dad survived, I survived and the farm survived. And all the information that needed to be recorded was put in the appropriate places. But at the end of those 6 weeks, my grades had dropped, and I had ZERO interest in anything having to do with farming, and I was ready to quit my job.

     I finally separated from the factory and went back to work on the family farm. The biggest problem with that was our little family farm didn't quite pay as well as that factory job. Not even close. Not even with picking up some part time work from other farmers. I figured it up one day. I was working twice the hours for half the pay that I was getting at the factory. WHAT was I thinking?

     So after a year and a half when another farmer offered me a job at an hourly wage, I talked to Mom and Dad  to see if they would match it. Knowing all along that our farm couldn't support that wage. And so I went to work for another farmer full time 'for the harvest' and helping out Dad part time for basically nothing.

     And that job 'for the harvest' turned into a full time job for the next 5 years. For the last 4 of those 5 years, I was usually the sole non-family employee on a family farm. After the milk hand quit and 6 months later they sold out of dairy cattle it wound up that extra help was hired in the spring for planting and extra help for harvest. Otherwise, just the family and me. I was the one that did the milking when one of the nieces/granddaughters got married and the family was all gone for the day. And when 'the boss' went on vacation for 2 weeks, I did the work that needed to be done. Granted, his Dad was going behind me checking to see that I had done the work, but he didn't interfere. I sprayed the crops that needed spraying, cut and baled the hay that needed to be cut and baled, fixed the fences that needed to be fixed. And the boss came home from vacation to a farm that was in as good a shape as when he left.

     When you question the amount of time a farmer spends away from his farm without knowing who was left 'in charge' it's insulting. You've insulted the farmer's decision making abilities. You've insulted the family members that they farm with, and most of them are working with family members. You've insulted their employee(s).

     Who needs it?

     Today I had the dubious pleasure of taking my son to the dentist. He had to have a pulpectomy. It's a root canal for baby teeth. He brushes his teeth regularly, but still wound up with cavities. So when we got him in the chair, the dentist came out with a syringe to squirt the medicine in his mouth. I was dubious about it, and told them that I didn't think that was going to work, but they only had the liquid. When the dentist squirted the medicine in his mouth. he did what he always does when medicine is squirted in his mouth with a syringe. HE THREW UP. My wife had warned them that he had a bad gag reflex, but evidently they didn't mark that down.

     Finally got medicine in him using a spoon, and since they thought he might have kept some of the medicine, they didn't give him a full dose, so it took a little longer to take effect than normal. Interesting to watch your child go into a stupor, but finally got it all done. By then, the medicine was taking full effect and he was pretty much unable to stand, so I wound up carrying him. It made for an interesting day, since he was in no shape to go to school.

     I then turned to trying to figure out what to do about my youngest child.

     He is a little overdue for his 4 year old shots. 2 months to be exact. Our pediatrician left practice a few months ago, and since none of our children had been sick, we didn't know about it until we tried to call the office.

     bee Bee BEEE we're sorry, you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service.

     Okay, my child no longer has a pediatrician. I wonder where his medical records are. I know the doctor was affiliated with THIS group. so I called Dr. X who was also in the group. No, they didn't have the records, they THINK that Dr. Y has that doctors patients and records. Called Dr. Y, no, they don't have the records, Dr. Z has her patients records. Called Dr. Z, no, they don't have the records or patients, they all went to Dr. X. ROADBLOCK.

     So then I am calling my insurance company to figure out what doctors are preferred providers in our health plan. The insurance company is the administrator of our plan, so they tell me I need to call our Provider Network. I call the Provider Network and punch in the correct response to get to talk to a live person. I explain to the person that I need to find out what doctors are preferred providers on our network, they told me I need to talk to our insurance company, and transfer me back before I can tell them that THEY were the ones who told me to call THEM. when I got back on with a live person with our insurance company they told me that I needed to call the Provider Network and offered to give me the number. I calmly explained to the gentleman what had just transpired, he connected me with a person who  was actually willing to answer a question.

     WELL, sort of. The first doctor they listed for me, was the one who is no longer practicing. URGH. I told the that THAT doctor was no longer practicing here. The next, a clinic that is 25 miles away. I asked them about a certain clinic a LITTLE bit closer to me. Nope, they're not part of the network, maybe the doctors that practice there are part of the network though. So I call the clinic, yes they take our insurance, but NO, they couldn't tell me the doctors that were there since it varied from day to day, and wouldn't tell me who the doctors were so I could find out if they were part of the network or not. URGH

     Finally found a doctor that will see him for a wellness visit and give him his vaccinations, they just need me to sign a paper so they can request his past records from his previous doctor. Ummm, explained the situation to the lady who answered the phone. So when I got there to sign the paper she said she could find out where the records were. She called someone and was told that the original doctors office has the records and gave her the number to call. The one that answers with: bee Bee BEEE we're sorry, you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service.

     She then pulled his shot records up and told me that actually, they couldn't give him his shots since they only had part of the vaccines, and they didn't want to give him only part of the shots since we would have to go somewhere else to get the other shot. But she wasn't sure where I could go to get the other shot other than the health department.

     I need a drink.