I get really tired of the advertising spam

So, why is it that it is okay for someone to blast post anonymous comments to blogs that are really spam - advertising? You would think that google could manage to filter these out. But they don't. So, I am reduced to requiring you to do more to comment. Not that that truly happens a lot but then....

Avoid Direct TV like the plague

Okay, so they seemed like a reasonable service. I did not like Cox Cable and satellite service was my alternative. I bought a receiver with Tivo from them and enjoyed it (though I was not happy about the damage their installer did to my wall). Then suddenly, it did not work. So I called to get a new one. They would charge me $400 or let me use one for "free" but I had to accept a 2 year service agreement. I saw no reason why I should not (although if I had know it cost $480 I would not have accepted it - they neglected that detail). So I get the receiver- it no longer is a TIVO because, it turns out, they have been illegally using TIVO's software code...

Fast forward several 10 months, my job is eliminated due to budget reasons. Every other provider is willing to work with me. Direct TV is willing to let me put my account on hold for 6 months. I have to sell my house and move in with family. I am unemployed a total of 10 months and end up making two moves of more than a thousand miles each. But I don't get a job and apartment that will let me resume the Direct TV. Direct TV insists that I either pay a monthly contract fee or a cancellation fee. They know I do not have a dish, just the "free receiver" but they still insist on charging me a programming fee for the receiver and they have moved me up to a more expensive (by $8 plan).

I call to cancel. I am bounced around till I get to a person who tries to talk me into remaining with them or coming back later. and this is when they start to lie. He tells me that if I will provide my credit card and pay the bill right now, he can reduce the bill to $48 and change. No other changes, including no cancellation fee if I just pay it today and return the receiver in the kit.

Yesterday, I got a bill charging me a cancellation fee and the receiver programming fee. The first person I got, Andrea, hung up on me. The second one, Paul, just told me that the fees were legal. The supervisor, John, told me that the person I talked to about canceling did not leave notes. In very indirect terms, he told me that I was lying and that the circumstances did not matter, it was a legal charge.

DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH DIRECT TV UNLESS YOU ARE PREPARED TO BE TREATED AS A CONVENIENT ACCESS TO YOUR MONEY AND TO BE LIED TO BY THEIR PERSONNEL.

Grandma had a stroke

Okay, so it is quarter of 11pm and I am totally pissed. My beloved grandmother had a stroke that seems to be affecting the nerves that control her eyes. Effectively, it is blinding her.

My mom took her to the ER by car instead of calling an ambulance because it did not seem to be life threatening and was faster. The ER staff left her in the waiting room for over an hour!!! They missed the bloody window of opportunity to intervene because they did not see her right away. Not important enough to triage ahead if someone delivers you by car instead of ambulance? For once I understand the desire to sue some one for damages. Personally, I cannot quit swearing, and I generally don't. I would have a strong drink but I decided an antidepressant was not the ideal addition.

What makes it worse is that I am on a business trip back in Omaha. I have been living there for 5 months. It happens one of the few times I am away. Mom has no one there to hold her hand or give her a hug. Grandma doesn't understand what is happening or why she cannot see.

She already wanted to die. When every vertebrae in your back is broken because of osteoporosis, you hurt all the time. She cannot hear much even with her hearing aids. She did not want to live in a nursing home or be dependent on anyone. Dieing would be a relief.

Instead she has a stroke that may leave her blind. Her major recreation is reading, playing cards, crocheting, correspoding with friends, and watching Jeopardy. ALL of those require sight. Living independently is hard if you cannot see. If she cannot see, it would have been kinder if she died. I so don't want her to have to live out her nightmares.

I Am a Native American

Tonight I found myself confronted by the same darned problem -- a discussion about "Native Americans." I never know how to have this conversation without sounding like a bigot. The problem is, at least as far as I see it, the topic doesn't have an easy answer, and everybody seems to think there ought to be. The problem in this case is the issue of "Native American" people and the reservation system.

My problem starts with linguistics. I hate the term "Native American" -- it implies that in order to be a native to the United States, your ancestors have to have lived here prior to the immigration from Europe. That might have made sense when the average individual could trace their ancestors to an immigrant with in one or two generations. It makes absolutely no sense to me; I'm born and bred state of Montana, which is located in United States of America on the North American continent. My identity is Not based on my European ancestors or where they came from. I don't doubt that my European heritage is strongly influenced how I think of myself etc., but I define myself as an American and one native to this country at that. So if we say that someone is "Native American", we are effectively saying that I am Not native to this country. I refuse to cooperate with a system like that -- I am a native American. I'm proud to be an American, and like the generations before me, I consider myself to be a native American. And I am offended when people imply that I am not.

And that leaves me with the problem of what word do I use to refer to people who call themselves Native Americans." They don't want to be called Indians, says the term really refers to the idiocy of a man who didn't know what continent he'd landed on. I can't say as I blame them. My personal term for them would be "Tribal People." Problem with that term is that I'm sure somebody will object to it. I suppose I could use the term "First People" but I don't happen to believe that there's any evidence currently sufficient to support the use of such a term. Scientifically, it would be possible to determine if the people living on the continent at the time of its rediscovery by the European explorers were in fact, evolutionarily unique to this continent. However that's never going to happen thanks to legislation that prevents us from using any human remains found that are old enough to be considered as part of the "Native American" peoples.

And so, despite all of its potential for being politically incorrect, I guess I'll write the rest of my musings on this topic using the term "Tribal People." My apologies in advance to those who it offends, and I'll accept yours for the offence you cause me every time you imply that I am not native to this country.