Thursday, December 12, 2019

Arthritis...

is an insidious disease.  Those of us who have it will have good days where the joint pain involved is at a minimum and we will have days where it pretty much kicks our butts.  These last few days where Mother Nature has decided that Minnesota needs to be a deep freeze have been of the butt kicking variety.

Those days will often find me curled up in my recliner, wrapped in my green fuzzy blanket, reading murder mysteries from my Kindle.  Other times I can be found at my computer, working on organizing my family tree or maybe sorting out the vast number of family photos I have saved.  But sometimes I just stroll through cyberspace, reading articles and viewing videos that catch my interest.

One such article caught my eye.  Portland, Oregon has a very large homeless population.  Now I have the deepest sympathy for those who find themselves in that situation.  There have been a couple of times in my life where I was just a few dollars away from finding myself in the same situation.  But today's homeless also include drug addicts, alcoholics and the mentally ill.

One would think that the solutions might be found in finding ways to treat the underlying problems.  But Portland's Commissioners are working on another solution.  They propose that when a new building is built, the property owners will be required to provide 'safe spaces' for the homeless to camp out.

Political Correctness has definitely run amok.  Instead of looking to provide services for those in need, their solution is to let the problems continue, but at the expense of property owners and the expense of those who will live in those buildings with the required safe spaces for the homeless.

There is an apartment building going up across the street from where I live.  If that building were to include space for the homeless to pitch their tents, I would not be pleased.  I have already over the years watched drug deals go down in the alley across from my living room windows.  I live next door to a bar.  I see the effects of excessive boozing.  Every community has its share of untreated mentally ill.  To live in a building that welcomes these problems on the grounds is unsafe and unhealthy at best and horrific at worst.  And it does nothing to help those in need.

We spend billions of tax dollars in aid to foreign countries.  Seems to me that using some of that money to find ways to actually help these people rather than just shuffle them off to another area of the city would make sense.

I guess common sense does not exist in government any more, be it on the national or local level.

The temps here are rising.  This flare-up of arthritis seems to be ebbing.  I have hope that within a day or so I will be able to resume regular activities.  Until then, an Agatha Christie novel is calling my name.  :)

23 comments:

  1. That is just crazy! Then, we would be required when we build our homes to provide a safe space for homeless. I wonder what happens when one builds a fire and burns the place down.

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    1. Linda...I agree. Crazy! They don't want to deal with the root causes of the problems - just allow them to get worse.

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  2. As you probably know by now, that foreign aid is just a way to launder tax dollars into the politician's pockets. There's no money to be made on the homeless. When they find a way to steal the money, they'll start voting all kinds of money to the cause.

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    1. Greed always seems to win the day. And people suffer for it. Sad.

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  3. Vicki~ I know what you mean. There are days when nothing helps and I just do what I can. Getting elected does not ensure that Common Sense will prevail in solving any type of problem. Red

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    1. Red...You get it, don't you. Some days we can go gangbusters and other days we just limp along as best we can.
      Seems to me that getting elected almost assuredly insures common sense flying out the window. Wish there was a cure for that.

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  4. Another good stop and think post. I could never figure out foreign aid. How many times has that come back and bite the US in the ass. The Ruler took that money for himself. But that is a debut for another time. For you your fingers, for me it breaks down like this... right foot/knee/lower back damaged at Sun Country, and my left knee at Disney when I tried to turn my knee 90 degrees ...These cold days do hurt, but life goes on. Stay warm

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    1. Rob...I tend to believe that our tax dollars should be used to help our own first.
      I can sympathize with your aches and pains. We just do the best we can with what we have to work with. :)

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  5. arthritis avoid potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, gluten and careful with the dairy intake this is obviously a pizza-free diet but you will be glad when i quit potatoes i was suddenly able to move!

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  6. Vicki~ Almost done with dehydrating the squash.
    The 90 pounds of wheat showed up. My husband wanted to know if he should start grinding. Nope. This is for later. Time to update the list and rotate the storage. Red

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    1. Red...I dehydrated the shredded zucchini and it turned out just fine. And it takes up less space than when frozen. Win - win.
      That's funny - should hubby start grinding! Wheat is such a good way to store flour. Good for you! I keep hearing more and more about upcoming food shortages. My grocery order for next week is mostly staples. Don't know if the warnings are true, but I'm not willing to risk it.

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  7. Stay put under that green fuzzy blanket, Vicki. I don't believe we are going to have much relief from the cold temps any time soon. Single digit lows have been the norm here recently. Brrr...

    What will be the incentive for anyone to build, own, work, or accomplish anything in life if the government has to put it's claws into everything? Anyone who believes the government should be the answer to ANY problem ... well, they are part of the problem. The swamp is getting deeper, and they are breeding more swamp creatures by the minute.

    Stay alert because things are getting a little more than crazy...CW

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    1. CW...Took your advice and spent half the afternoon under the green fuzzy blanket, dozing and listening to music. I think it helped. I am hoping that things around here will get back to what passes for normal, in another day or so.

      Those were my thoughts when I read of Portland's solution to the homeless problem. Why would anyone even want to purchase land to build on, knowing they would be required to share that land with others. I am not against the homeless. I understand that some of them are there because of circumstances beyond their control. But I have been reading where diseases are running rampant through homeless camps. In places like San Francisco, the city hires people to go clean up human feces and used needles daily. Why on earth would anyone want to live in a place where that is condoned.

      The swamp is totally out of control and getting worse. They would rather gin up excuses to get rid of our president than they would to use their time and our money to do things to benefit the people. And you are absolutely spot on when you say things are getting crazier all the time. One has to wonder how it will all end, as end it must, sooner or later. If it doesn't, we are more than doomed.

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    2. CW...And.....he's gone! Accidently deleted your remark when I got rid of him. :)

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  8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkwGfnPTets

    Pray and Prepare

    Red

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    1. Red...This guy puts out some good stuff. I have seen some of his other videos. Thanks for the link to this one. I have no doubt the serious food shortages are coming. And I can't say I am surprised that the climate change folks are using it to their advantage to gain control. I also have no doubt it will get much worse before it gets any better. You are so right when you say 'Pray and Prepare.'

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    2. Red, I have tried to watch the youtube site several times, however I do believe our youtube police have made it unavailable...CW

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  9. Try this one CW
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkwGfnPTets&feature=emb_title Red

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  10. Did a quick run to the grocery store this morning. They were having a sale on frozen veggies. Bought the largest bag of corn and it is now in the dehydrator.
    Interesting, i also got the last bag of cornmeal on the shelf.
    Cheers, SJ in Vancouver BC

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    1. SJ...Corn rehydrates really well, which is why I have lots of it on the shelf. I'm going for the frozen veggies in my grocery order this week. They store so well and I don't need to use up the few canning jars I have left.

      When the volunteers who do the actual shopping for the grocery service I use find an item not stocked on the shelf, they call me to see if I want a substitute or if I want to just skip it that time. For a long time I didn't receive any calls. Lately, however, there has been something in nearly every order that is not on the store shelves. Last time it was cornmeal. The time before it was molasses. Makes me wonder.....

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    2. Vicki and SJ

      I get my Cornmeal, Masa and other things from Bob's Red Mill. Free Shipping over $59. Started another batch of zucchini in the dehydrator. I dropped a dried piece and one of my cats grabbed it. Spent the next 10 minutes chewing on it. Red

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